Aftermath
by Darren Xirias
Summary: It was done. Lothar Rendain had been banished into the Void, and Solus was saved, for a time. Yet, The Battleborn must not rest, as the Varelsi, despite this major setback, are still trying to extinguish the last star in their eternal crusade for darkness. But, after fighting for so long, our heroes tire. And their badass personalities begin to show cracks...
1. Chapter 1 : Benedict : Regrets

**Hello, everyone ! Darren Xirias here, and boy am I nervous today. If you've clicked on this, you are in the Battleborn section of fanfiction. And as you probably have seen, there is NOT a lot of stories in there right now.**

 **So, here I am, throwing myself into the unknown, and trying to take a slightly different look at the Battleborn universe, even though it only came out like three weeks ago. This fic will be a collection of Drabbles of a sorts, more often than not connected, which will almost all take place after the fall of Rendain, unless stated otherwise. I will try to keep the characters' personalities intact, although I don't have unlocked all of the lores yet, so if there is any errors you notice, please share them in the reviews section :) I will try to change them as fast as I can.**

 **The first chapter is about everyone's favorite rocket hawk, Benedict. Hope you all like it, and R &R!**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Benedict: Regrets_

Dear Circinae.

First thing first, should you ever see this letter, you'll probably wonder why did I wrote it so soon after sending another one.

The truth is that I wasn't able to tell you everything I wanted to tell you in the first one. I probably never will be able to do so in all my letters I send to the Void, in the mad hope that you will, somehow, catch it.

Who would have thought, heh? The great Benedict, the Rocket Hawk, is actually a complete mess inside. "Birdbrain messed it up again", they say. "Benedict is just a complete ***hole" they say. And they're right. I would never admit it in front of them, thanks to the last bit of dignity I have for that. But they're right. After Madan, I was able to delude myself for a time. Kept shooting bigger rockets. Asking for bigger launchers to go along. Flew longer. Faster. Became better at annoying the hell out of people.

It was just a game, to me. An act. A role to play. Just like when we were little, do you remember? You always played the girl I had to save, every time, even though back at school you were by far the strongest girl. I remember this one guy, forgot his name, who kept bullying me. I was too scared to ever think of fighting back, but the moment you heard about this, you beat him so bad, I still laugh when I think about his face after that.

And even though _I_ was the one who needed to be rescued, you still let me play at being a hero. You were just that nice. That's actually what pushed me to join the Peacekeepers, in the long term. I meant, you let me play the hero so often, I actually _had_ to become one, right? Should have been easy.

Of course, like everything else in my life, I failed. I never was a hero, only a kid with a far too large beak for his own good that played at being one. Oh, sure, everyone back on Madan told me I was the greatest soldier we ever had, how lucky we were to have me, how the Varelsi didn't stand a chance against my mighty rocket launcher. I hadn't much competition I guess. I mean, so far, the only other Avian that had any success in wartimes I know of is the Finiscan, Toby.

God I hate that guy. Everytime I see him, I only see what I could have been. He's the littlest guy in all the Battleborn, he got refused by the UPR for being too cute, even before all of that, on Madan, he was always on armory duty. And yet, after the darkening of Madan, he fought at Jennar. Jennar! The biggest battle I ever saw before Solus. And he survived. Without any help, he built himself a giant mecha, and sniped down hundreds of thralls and Varelsi, all alone. And he survived to tell the tale.

He is a hero. Even though he was told he would never make a difference, that he was too young, too cute, too little, too _him_ , he told those people to screw off and he made a difference. Not because he wanted the glory, not because he likes the violence (heck, he apologizes to everyone he shoots his mines at, and cries in panic when he sees blood). He did that because _it was the right thing to do_.

My complete opposite. When I told my parents I wanted to become a soldier, I was groomed to become the best Madan had ever seen. Their hero. Their champion. They placed all my hopes in me, and I crushed them beneath my talons.

I _fled_ Madan. When I saw our star beginning to disappear, I became scared. I flew out of it. You might have heard I was actually the last one on the battlefield, defending my homeworld until the very end, but that's not true. It's propaganda spilled by the UPR, for the people to keep on believing in them, in me. That way, it was easier for the Peacekeepers to execute their shadiest projects at the time, like the Mike Program, without a revolt on their arms.

And in the middle of all of this, I was shipped from start to star, with a crew only growing slimmer and slimmer each month passing by, as we lost stars and comrades.

But I didn't find the strength to care. I already lost you, so why should I concern myself over people I met only days ago at the time?

After some time, and a new rocket launcher, unlike what I told you in other letters, I didn't turn the page. Far from it. I grew resentful. Hateful.

I hated the UPR, for what they made me into. I hated Lothar Rendain, for betraying us, for pulling us into an even worse ****storm. I hated the Varelsi, for taking my world, our world, _all_ _of our worlds_. I hated the LLC for ditching the UPR when they needed them the most, forcing us to land on Bliss. I hated the Eldrid, for refusing to house us on Ekkunar, under the pretext of preserving their legacy. I hated captain Ghalt and his optimism, persuaded as he was that we would win the day, that there ws still hope, while I knew there was no hope for us with only one last star existing when we already lost all the others. I hated that fool Oscar Mike for always acting dumb as his feet, believing no one knew he was a clone, and calling me names all day long. I hated that guy Montana, who tried over and over again to make me integrate, when I clearly told him I was only interested in one thing, my rockets. I hated Toby, for reminding me of what I could have done better, of how he would always be a better Avian than me, and how he made me remember our little Peck every time I saw him. And, best of all I hated myself, for slipping into the role of a narcissistic, egocentric, bastard.

"Who cares?" I thought. "We're all going to die, anyway." But we didn't. We killed Rendain. We assembled the factions into a real group. We still continue to keep the Varelsi at bay.

We survived.

And when that hit me, I cried. I cried, because once again, I fled like a coward in front of adversity. I could have helped to end this war sooner if I had worked _with_ my teammates rather than _against_ them, but no, my pride and my self-loathing had to take the better of me, if that better ever existed in the first place. So many people died deaths I could have prevented.

When we bonded for the first time, when we embraced each other that fateful night, just before Peck, Auggie, Wisp, Sarret, and Armandi were born, when we told each other "I love you" for the first time…

If I could, I would go back in time, force myself to get out of the room and never look back. Because I never deserved you. And I never deserved the wonderful brood you gave me.

If somehow you manage to read this letter, dear Circinae, tell the children that their father said hi. And that he's sorry. For everything.

With my everlasting love, for what it's worth.

Benedict.

*o*o*o*o*

"Whoa… Just… Whoa…"

That was all Oscar Mike could tell after finishing his read. To say the letter he held in his hand had the effect of a bombshell dropped on him would be an understatement.

"If that's some kind of sick joke, then it ain't funny at all."

It was a fact, nobody liked Benedict, and Benedict liked nobody. It had been that way since he joined the team, and the self-centered hawk did nothing to change that opinion about him. In fact, he often claimed that he loved only three things in life: himself, rockets, and himself.

Mike was no psychologist, and no Montana, but thanks to the letter he was holding in his hand, he knew that Benedict, despite all the bad blood running between them, needed help. And needed it _now_.

"Hey, Nova! Could you tell Ghalt I might want to see him? Now?"


	2. Chapter 2 : ShayneAurox : Speleology

**Hello again guys! Darren Xirias here, and with another chapter I never thought I would have get out this quickly. Anyways, after diving in Benedict's self loathing issues, we're moving on to something completely different, and by that I mean a chapter centered on our favorite comedic duo, I named Shayne and Aurox! Guest starring Toby and Marquis for this chapter.**

 **I don't really have anything else to say, so as usual, R &R guys :) **

*o*o*o*o*

 _Shayne/Aurox: Speleology_

Shayne was grumpy, today.

Ever since Rendain had bit the dust on Tempest, the Varelsi had kept coming over and over again, never stopping their relentless assault on Solus. Which meant the Battleborn had to keep on fighting. And had to wake up at ungodly times in the morning in case of an alert.

Of course, Ghalt and Reyna scheduled her to participate in the next battle at the time, not knowing said battle was to happen at _2a.m_ , to Shayne's regret.

"AUF WIEDEHERSEN, FRIEND!"

And of course, the psychotic sniper robot shouting one liners next to her didn't help. She wasn't usually the one to pass on a good fight, but she didn't sleep as long as she wanted to today. And like all women that didn't have their beauty sleep, that made her downright _murderous_.

Then again, the giant cosmic stone monster named Aurox that was hovering over her always helped giving this vibe off.

Today, the group was consisting of herself, Aurox, Marquis and Toby. The mission had been simple: stop the Varelsi incursion occurring on Bliss right now, which meant going through one of the hundreds of cave networks on the moon, emerging at the location of the portal, defeat the Varelsi guarding it, point it for an orbital strike courtesy of Nova, and get out. And right now, after dealing with an angry Conservator, dozens of Varelsi, and a UPR outpost whom local minion forces had gone rogue, they were on the 'getting out' part.

Unfortunately, she had to serve as the group's punching bag given that her two teammates were sniper with almost no way to defend themselves should a Berserker come close, and Bliss being Bliss, she was _freezing_ out there. And even worse, the caves were filled to the brim with Varelsi, and Shayne was beginning to show signs of fatigue.

"THIS BULLET IS JUST FOR YOU!"

She narrowly avoided a Skulk's fist as she groaned for the umpteenth time at Marquis' madness, thanking the last star ISIC wasn't here as well. She wasn't sure she could have supported two crazy sociopathic Magnuses.

Aurox let out a snarl at an oncoming Berserker, which Shayne hadn't seen, before slashing it back into the Void.

"Pay attention, girl!"

"Aaaw, I knew you cared, big guy. Thanks for the help."

Aurox nearly gagged on himself, knowing full well that Shayne's teasing was something he could do next to nothing about, thanks to her possessing his phase beacon.

"Hey, Toby, any world from Ghalt or the boss yet?"

Given Marquis… instable personality, it was agreed the orders wouldn't be relayed through him for the mission, instead choosing Berg's built-in radio communication system to do so.

"Ghalt told me we were getting close, guys. We just have a little bit farther to go on."

"First good news of the day" grinned Shayne. "The fastest we're done with this, the fastest I can go back sleeping."

As if motivated by the news, her boomerangs suddenly took down three Varelsi in quick succession, their corpses disappearing in a flash of purple light.

"Whouhou! Shayne and Aurox, best friends and best ***kickers!"

"WE ARE NOT FRIENDS!" roared Aurox as he rushed at a Varelsi Hunter, shredding the thing to pieces in his wrath. Shayne merely rolled an eye at this, while backing up a little bit and lining up Skulk with her boomerang. She knew melee combat without Aurox was a sure-fire way to get herself killed.

She saw an arc mine flying above her head, landing in the middle of a large group of Varelsi, before exploding, sending cosmical horrors' body parts across the cave.

"Yeah! I did it!"

Shayne couldn't help but smile at Toby's infectious enthusiasm.

"Keep up the good work, Toby! You got 'em!"

The Finiscan beamed up with joy and pride, not used to see his hard work praised like that. But the two Rogues didn't have time to dwell on this, however, as suddenly a Varelsi portal, bigger than the ones they already saw today, opened.

Two Profanators got out of the portal, and began retrenching themselves before unleashing a bombardment on the Battleborn in mission.

Toby wasted no time in deploying a force field to cover the heroes' retreat, while Marquis dropped a time distortion on the two abominations to slow their barrage. They then proceed to cover behind a wall, the sound of the Profanators' cannons firing up resonating across the caves.

"Alright. Someone got a plan? Cause I'm not going in front of those two monsters without backup."

"Erm, well, I guess we could try to wear them down from this position" shakily began Toby, ever the nervous guy, "but that will take long enough for other Varelsi to sneak up behind us."

"Ja, the cute little animal is right" said Marquis in his German-robotic tone, completely indifferent to the fact Toby, at his side, was throwing him one of the nastiest glares Shayne had ever seen. "And my Bindleblast is currently unavailable, since one of those otherworldly hobos had the nerve of hitting my precious Bindlebane. We'll have to try and pass through them swiftly."

They then heard the sound of another portal opening up in the cave they were coming from, and picking a glance, they noticed an Alpha Scaven had been dropped by.

"So much for passing through" drily said Shane. "Toby, that new mine prototype you talked about, is it ready?"

"No! Nononononono" said Toby while shaking his head vehemently. "It's still too unstable, and if you're thinking what I'm thinking, I'm not going to let you go through that plan."

"Excuse me, Miss Shane" interrupted the gentleman sniper "but wat is this plan you are devising right now?"

"I planned to use Aurox's invisibility to carry one of Toby's new arc mines down the wall behind those creeps. That would provoke a cave-in, and bury those mother****ers up."

"My, my" said the robot "this plan is as dangerous and inconsiderate as your language is vulgar enough to make my hearing processors bleed."

"If you have a better idea, bolt-brain, spill it out. Because right now, we're stuck in front of three Alpha Varelsi that are gonna wreck us if we don't play it smart, even more if we don't move our butts now!"

Marquis tried to come up with an answer to that, but failed to do so, and kept silent. Toby, likewise, came at the conclusion Shayne's plan, while risky, was their only option.

"Alright. Are your shields charged, at least?"

Shayne nodded at the Finiscan.

"I have bad feeling about this" warned Aurox, but as usual, Shayne ignored her partner's warnings, preparing herself to carry through the plan.

"Alright, Aurox" said she while preparing to catch an arc mine with her hands. "Once I tell you "now", you pull us in stealthy mode. You can do that?"

Shayne didn't even have to hear Aurox's answer to know it. Toby moved Berg into shooting position, while Marquis took cover, before the Avian shoot his trademark explosive.

"NOW, AUROX!"

The mine landed right in Shayne's arms while Aurox pulled the duo into invisibility, and the teenager suddenly became aware of something.

Electricity hurt.

Biting down the pain, she began running in silence, with her Djinn in tow, towards the wall behind the three big Varelsi. She could feel her shields being depleted each moment passing by, but she pressed forwards and in a few seconds, she was already here, and dropped her deadly package.

The electricity stream ceased, for what Shayne huffed a relieved sigh, before running back in the direction she came from.

Or that's what she would have done if she hadn't tripped on one of the Alpha Scaven's tentacles.

Shayne's face ate the snow face first, the symbiotic link bounding Aurox and the teenager by their waists weakened by the sudden shift in position, which caused her invisibility to drop.

She suddenly became aware of _why_ the Varelsi had been feared across the universe when the three of them suddenly looked at her, their white, unexpressive faces gazing down the teenager's form. Thankfully for her, though Aurox wasted no time in pushing back their foes, using his inner energy resources to create a pillar of flames around him that somehow didn't hurt Shayne, but forced the Varelsi to recoil in pain.

"SHAYNE!" she suddenly heard. "SHAYNE, GET UP! THE MINE! THE MINE IS GOING TO EXPLODE!"

"Oh ****!" she shouted. "Aurox! Move your butt over here, quick!"

"Do not order me, girl!" shouted in protest the Djinn while still obeying said order. They linked back, and began rushing towards the rest of the Battleborn, but a Varelsi Marksman suddenly teleported in front of them, and shot.

Instincitvely, they dodged on the side, and Aurox slashed the purple horror. They then got back up and began running again.

But then, they heard the arc mine explode.

All Shayne could feel was pain in her back. She once again planted face first in the snow, Aurox falling a little bit farther, but this time she didn't manage to get herself up.

"Oh, come on, legs, why won't you work?!"

She could hear the Varelsies' cries of pain behind her. The prototype definitely packed up a lot more punch than Toby's standard explosives, that was for sure.

Then, a loud cracking noise rang into the cave. Fearfully, Shayne looked up at the ceiling, and all she saw were a blue-gray stone wall littered with stalactites that was shaking violently, fissures appearing all across it.

She couldn't scream. She was too paralyzed by fear, by her imminent death, to call for death. She tried to do so, but couldn't. She couldn't even move. This was it. _I'm going to die_ she thought when she saw the ceiling finally giving way and beginning to fall towards her.

What happened next, she didn't really register: she felt herself pulled up roughly, and then thrown up towards the snow again. After that she saw white, and heard a very loud sound, which she couldn't really distinguish.

She took her head out of the snow, and was relieved to see Toby and Marquis in front of her. The relief instantly turned to dread when she saw their looks of shock. She followed their gazes and landed on a spectacle that made her wanting to cry.

Aurox was lying on the snow, unmoving, his left arm completely crushed by the biggest boulder Shayne ever saw.


	3. Chapter 3 : Miko : The Doctor is in

**Well hello there! Darren Xirias here, and now, after that horrible cliffhanger I left you on last time, here is another chapter!... With someone completely different, I named everyone's favorite mushroom man... Woman... Thing... Doctor, Miko!**

 **Hope you guys all like the direction the story takes so far! And as usual, R &R!**

 **N.B. : Guayota is the name of Aurox's species. It means "star poop" in Aelfrin, Thorn's species' language. Though that was funny for you to know.**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Miko: The Doctor is in_

Miko washed its hands at the nearby sink, careful to not forget a single space of fungus flesh left out. Once it was done, it took another of its numerous instruments, in this case a piece of cloth bathed in alcohol, and went to apply it on bare flesh.

Said bare flesh belonged to Teshka "Thorn" Elessamorn, Aelfrin archer, and trying her hardest to not look like she was in pain.

"Stop clenching your teeth. You are impending our work."

"I am not clenching my teeth, Miko."

"You have a lot of talents, Thorn, but lying is not one of them."

Thorn grumbled at this, but kept silent otherwise, not doing anything that might cause her to reveal she was, in fact, in pain. Miko kept on working on Thorn's injury, a very nasty cut a Scaven made on her right leg during an ambush. Of course, Thorn being an Eldrid, she would have recovered in time, thanks to the natural regeneration all Eldrid had. But when locked into a permanent battle with a never-ending swarm of star-devouring creatures, time was a luxury they could not afford, even despite Marquis' claims of the opposite.

That was why Miko had reopened the Nova's infirmary. When the fungus didn't take part in the battles on Bliss, Tempest or Ekkunar, Miko was busy getting the Battleborn back on their feet. Even the proudest ones, like Verod Rath, Galilea Azmodeus, or even Thorn, to name a few, didn't have a problem using Miko's services, namely because of the walking mushroom's calm nature and the fact he almost never talked during its service, which the Battleborn's wounded pride was very thankful of.

Once Thorn's wound was properly disinfected, Miko pushed the cloth away and took its tools for stitching the wound. The two Eldrid were silent during the process, Miko sending a few of its spores inside of the wound when Thorn began clenching her teeth so hard Miko could _hear_ the sound of the teeth rattling at each other, for appeasing her charge's suffering.

After a few minutes, Thorn looked almost as good as new, and stood up, grabbing her bow and making way for the exit of the room. But before that, she performed an Eldrid salute to Miko, her way of thanking the fungus and acknowledging its skill as a doctor.

"Remember, we advise you not to run as fast as usual for the next week, and to refrain from jumping off cliffs like you usually do" said Miko in its even tone.

The Aelfrin didn't even bothered herself to answer that, instead rushing through the door, hoping she could take out her frustration in the training room.

Miko was left alone for a moment, lost in its thoughts, thoughts of its home destroyed by the Varelsi years before, of the solitude it had endured for so long before joining the Battleborn.

Miko's musings then moved on to said Battleborn, and how it thought that, sometimes, it shouldn't even bother with them.

The fungus remembered some days where its comrades came back from missions in a positively dreadful state, only because said comrades had felt the compulsive urge to "show off some skills".

It nearly had left Oscar Mike to die when the soldier recounted the tale of how he got his injuries because of a bet with Montana including, among others, to dance Macarena in front of a Thrall Enforcer. Another example just as infuriating had been how Orendi tried to drink from Melka's poison vials, persuaded as she was that the green liquid couldn't be anything else than mint syrup. The worst offender probably had to be Rath, though. The overly proud swordsman just couldn't allow his honor to even be merely questioned, and as such, did really dumb things, such as insulting the Eldrid's honor in the same room as Melka, Thorn and Boldur, throwing itself into battle against Ekkunar's poisonous vegetal life, or doing the Macarena bet alongside Oscar Mike because of being called "chicken".

That's when Miko realized it truly was a miracle everyone on crew was still alive and well. Even its expensive medical knowledge couldn't help it fight against downright stupidity.

"Erm… Miko, would you happen to have a moment?"

Miko was almost never taken by surprise, and now was no exception. Its exceptional senses warned it of Phoebe coming down the medical bay. The mushroom instantly saw why the young lady came down there: her right arm was clearly visible, given that the cloth that was supposed to be around it had been burned. The arm itself wasn't much better, burnt tissues spreading everywhere. Judging from the look of the wounds, the burning had been recent.

"How did it happen?" asked Miko in its even tone, not even showing an ounce of emotion. Phoebe was clearly not in any real danger, after all.

"A Phasegate test whom I rushed some parts. I'm dreadfully sorry to inflict this upon you…"

"Sit" cut the mushrrom while gesturing to the operation table. Phoebe was one of Miko's most careful patients, not usually one to hurt herself in stupid ways, unlike Oscar Mike or Orendi. As such, Miko didn't even feel a slightest hint of irritation. It knew Phoebe was tinkering her Phasegate in order for it to be more reliable and less energy-consuming, in order for her to better fight the Varelsi, and such a noble cause couldn't be disapproved of by the medic.

The lady sat down on the operation table, pulling back her right sleeve to allow Miko full access to the tissue. The fungus immediately began treatment.

"Once again, sorry about this" said Phoebe. "I should have known skipping over the quadri-dimensional dephase variable was a bad idea."

"No apology is necessary."

The mushroom applied some healing spores on the wounds, in order to help the cauterization go faster.

"Still though, I should have known better! I could be taking your time and impede the healing of our comrades who wound themselves in battle, and not because they were careless in the engineering bay!"

"No one was here when you came in. Healing is our job."

The mushroom took out a salve out of its pharmacy, and applied it on Phoebe's arm. The lady hissed, the salve stinging her burnt flesh.

"But I shouldn't have been so careless as to make such a mistake."

Miko stopped its treatment, looking at Phoebe very intently. The aristocrat was apparently surprised by this.

"Miko, is everything alright?"

"No. Something is wrong with you."

"Wh…What?"

Phoebe would have taken this as an insult coming from the louts of the UPR, or from Kleese. Miko, however, never insulted _anyone_ , which meant the mushroom man/woman/thing had something else in mind.

"You haven't been at the mess for two days. You spend hours in the engineering bay. You make mistakes you usually don't, likely due to a lack of sleep."

The fungus looked Phoebe eye to eyes, its stare unwavering.

"What is your problem?"

Phoebe looked at the mushroom, unable to say anything for a moment, before sighing wearily.

"Am I that obvious to read?"

"No" came the instant reply of Miko. "But you insisted too much on your mistake. We guessed from here."

"And I suppose I must tell you?"

"Only if you want us to listen."

Phoebe took another sigh, before explaining.

"It's about Marquis."

Now, the mushroom being was surprised at _that_. It didn't know Phoebe had problems with her former butler.

"You said I didn't go to the mess for two days, and that's how much time passed since Marquis has been going on missions."

The schedule sometimes put Battlebron several consecutive battles in a row, either by chance or at their demand. Marquis, Rath, Galilea, Thorn, Caldarius, ISIC, Oscar Mike and Whiskey Fowtrot were the ones that always asked for more battles.

"Every time he goes on mission, I skip meals, and I spend my time in the engineering bay."

"Why is that?"

"He changed, Miko. Even after the Magna Carta went off, he still had some bits of his old personality here, but now, I have the impression to talk to a complete sociopath rather than Marquis, my butler and my first friend. I'm afraid he changed for the worst after Rendain's fall."

"But why going to the engineering bay when he isn't here, then? We do not understand."

"Because I don't want him to see my new pet project."

"Pet project? Aren't you working on your Phasegate device as of now?"

"I do. I have several projects I'm working on, actually." A small smile came to her as she said that, inventing clearly being her passion.

"But this… pet project of mine… It would be better if he never saw it until it's ready."

"And why would that be?"

"I plan to rewrite his personality."

Now Miko definitely _was_ surprised. Phoebe, rewriting a robot's personality? Marquis'? Miko knew the LLC saw robots as individuals as much as humans, so to think Phoebe would rewrite her former butler's personality, now _that_ was a real shock.

"I know" said Phoebe upon seeing Miko's face. "It's technically wrong."

"Technically? You plan to erase a sentient being's consciousness! Have you no regards for life?"

While the Eldrid were still divided over the fact robots were sentient beings or not, Miko was persuaded they had a soul, a personality, and as such should be treated as well as any being of flesh. In that regard, the Mushroom was surprisingly progressive for its culture.

"I plan to rebuild his memory from before the Magna Carta went off, from before the war for Solus. I don't want to "erase" his memories, I want to restore them!"

"And how would you proceed to do so, then?"

Miko was growing angry, which was quite rare. The fungus had few things that could set him off, but playing at life with another sentient being was one.

"I managed to retrieve maintenance logs of his personality core, although damaged. I tried to restore them to full data, but it takes time. Once I'm done, I can upload the data into his processor, and bim! Marquis is back!"

"And I suppose you didn't ask him if he was alright with this, since you did it behind his back, we presume."

"It's for the best! He just can't stay like ISIC! Like all those crazy Magnuses! That didn't include you Nova" quickly said Phoebe, in order to avoid the ship's sarcastic quips. Nova stayed silent.

"I remember him as the father I never truly had, as a kind and dedicated butler, who loved mechanical owls, making tea and criticizing classical music, not as a psycho who gets kicks out of splitting skulls open in the distance!"

" _Oh, is that truly how you see me, my Lady?_ "

Both the woman and the fungus stopped talking, the unmistakable German accent coupled with the robotic tone carrying so much disgust, the two beings were chilled to the core.

Phoebe slowly turned on herself, while Miko looked at the door of the med bay. Sure enough, the Gentleman Sniper was standing here, standing tall, his cane-rifle tucked beneath his right armpit, his single robotic eye glaring at Phoebe.

"Marquis" said she, keeping her calm. "How much, did you hear?"

"I arrived at the part where you talked about your _pet project_ " said the robot with nothing but contempt at those two words, "Milady. So, I can assume I heard enough. Quite enough."

He turned towards Miko, however, momentarily forgetting Phoebe.

"Miko, I am dreadfully sorry to announce that there has been a casualty on today's mission."

"Who is in touble?" said the mushroom, keeping its role as a doctor its first priority.

The question was soon answered, however, when Shayne entered the room in a panic, closely followed by El Dragon, who was carrying Aurox's body in his robotic arms.

"Thanks a bunch, Francesco" said Shayne to the luchador. "I don't know what we would have done without you coming down to bring him back."

"Don't sweat it, young fan!" said El Dragon in his usual, deep, powerful tone. "The once and future champ is always ready to help those in need! Where do I put him, by the way?" said he while looking at Miko.

"Place him on the operation table" said the fungus.

"Galaxies" muttered Phoebe, "is his arm just _gone_?"

Miko looked at Aurox's body, and immediately knew it was going to be a very long night: though Shayne had the spirit to bring the mushroom the phase beacon device linked to Aurox, which would allow the fungus to operate more efficiently, the Guayota was in very bad shape. Miko knew those beings actually didn't have a heart, but it still unnerved it to see Aurox not moving at al.

"Please, Miko, tell me you can save him. Tell me you can. Tell me he's going to be alright."

Shayne was clearly distraught at Aurox's predicament, looking on the verge of crying.

"We do not know, Shayne" said the mushroom, who immediately added upon seeing the teenager terrified face, "but we promise to do everything possible to save him."

Meanwhile, Marquis and El Dragon had left the room, and Phoebe followed suit soon after.

"Thanks, Miko. I just don't know what I would do without him."

"We will have to ask you to leave, however" added the mushroom "We need all the space possible in order to operate efficiently. Once it's done, we promise you will be the first to know."

Shayne sniffled a little, and nodded another thanks to Miko, before turning to Aurox.

"Don't you dare die on me. We survived the Detritus Ring, we survived Ekkunar, we survived Rendain, it's bloody not for you to die because of a f*****g landslide, you hear?"

Shayne burst down in tears at that point.

"I will give you back the beacon if you wake up! I will let you do whatever you want with me and my bowels, I will release you in the Ring, I will do anything you want, if you just wake up!"

She slammed the wall in a rage inducted by her being useless to help her friend, and darted out the room, covering her eyes.

Miko sighed. It really was going to be a long night. It immediately began working, firstly trying to find the formula it usually used for kelvin.

It didn't notice Aurox's small whimper, calling her name.

"Shaaaayyyynnneee…"


	4. Chapter 4 : Toby : Guilt

**Hello everyone, Darren Xirias here ! First thing first, you guys rock. 4 reviews and 6 follows for a fic in a section of the site that is really small right now, those numbers mean a** ** _lot_** **to me. So I just wanted to thank you all.**

 **Now that's done, here's the fourth chapter of the story, starring Toby, and a surprise guest (an unwanted one at that)! Not saying anything else, I might have spoiled you already, and that would be no fun if it did happen. As usual, R &R :)**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Toby: Guilt_

Toby turned on himself in his bed. Again.

The young Finiscan couldn't find it in himself to sleep. Not after the events that happened earlier. Once again, he turned, moving the bed sheets along in hic comically large bed, designed for a standard human soldier to sleep in, not a Finiscan Avian that had stopped his growth spurt years too early.

And then he saw the bed next to him. Shayne's bed. Empty, of course.

Sighing, Toby decided that, since he wouldn't sleep tonight, he might as well do something of his night. He stood up and got out of the bed, before heading to the door of the bedroom he, Shayne and Reyna were sharing. Reyna's bed was empty too, but that was expected, given she was part of the faction leaders, and as such, often discussed with the high command, comprised of Ghalt, Deande, Kleese, Melka and herself, of what their next course of action should be.

Toby got out of the dorm, and strolled down the hallway, heading for the armory. He might as well do some controls on Berg with the free time he had on his tiny shoulders. At this hour, the ship was quiet, the only really noticeable sounds being the engines of the Nova turning and the muffled talk in the command room, not audible because of the door.

He paid both no mind, and went down the ramp at the end of the hallway. He passed by the level with the mess, and stopped at the next one, stopping before going to the drop level, where the Battleborn would be preparing themselves just before landing for a mission. He didn't go to his right, where the systems room and the med bay were, and instead went left. After some time, and after passing over the engineering bay, he stopped before the armory's door, jumped at the handle to open it, and went inside.

Inside the armory, a truly huge room who probably was as large as the ship and almost as long, were all of the Battleborn weapons they didn't transport on themselves at all time. In the right corner at the back of the room laid the LLC high tech-weaponry, such as Kleese's battle throne, Phoebe's set of rapiers, or Marquis' Bindlebane, placed delicately on a small display.

The left corner at the back couldn't hold weaponry more different, as the Eldrid stored their weapons there. Boldur's axe and shield, Thorn's bow, and Melka's venom pistol, which contrasted with the rest.

The middle of the room was occupied by what was left of the original ship's armory, a standard UPR weapons storage system. Toby noticed Galilea's sword was once again missing. The shielded warrior was probably at the training field again. All the other weapons were here, though, from Ghalt's shotguns to Oscar Mike's rifle.

The left corner near the entrance was storing the Jennerit's weapons: Rath's trio of swords, Ambra's solar staff, Caldarius's TMP and grenades (though oddly Toby never saw his armor stored here. Nor did he see the Kemessian without it for that matter) and Deande's war fans.

The right corner near the entrance was the one Toby was interested in: the Rogues' stash. Of course, Whiskey's rifle was here, as well as Reyna's laser pistol. Oddly, Shayne's set of boomerangs were still here, when Toby theorized she would be venting her frustration in the training field. And lastly, standing over those weapons was Toby's trusted mech, Berg.

"All right there, big guy" said Toby, while taking the wrench he always left near his mech, in case the Finiscan wanted a repair or a modification done, "time to check if your rivets are still holding on, I guess."

The Finiscan spent about an hour doing several checkups, twisting a little the Railgun's acceleration field this, taking out the combustion rejects from the reactors that, and all in all working himself in forgetting what he felt at the moment.

Until there was nothing left to be verified on Berg, and Toby's mind started replaying the events of the day time after time.

Toby could see a million moments where he could have done better, where he could have _prevented_ what happened to Aurox. He could have chosen a different path in the caverns. He could have preemptively placed arc mines to weather down the Varelsi. He could have applied force fields to stand behind and fight the Profanators the old way. He could have done _something else_ than allowing Shayne to go on a suicide run.

To his surprise, he found himself having his feathers becoming wet, at his cheeks, and he realized he was crying. The Finiscan was quietly, silently sobbing in front of Berg.

"I'm sorry Shayne… I'm sorry Aurox… I should have done my job better… I should have protected you better…"

The tear were flowing through unhinged now. Toby couldn't even manage to form a coherent sentence now. The guilt was combining with older memories of his. Unpleasant memories.

" _You damn bird! You're completely useless!_ "

" _We told you to stay at the armory! Now, Jim is dead because of you!_ "

" _Why can't you just_ learn _your damn place already?_ "

" _You will never be able to protect the people you love. Why? Evolution made sure of it, that's why!_ "

" _How come…_ you _get to live… while I must die because of a bloody disease…?_ "

" _Sorry little guy. Maybe when you're older._ "

" _You're useless. Absolutely useless._ "

 _Useless. Useless. Useless._ **Useless.**

"I KNOW!" shrieked Toby "I know! I know. I kno-o-o-o-ow…" descended he into a teary lament. This wasn't the first time he failed someone. It didn't made it hurt less.

Toby stayed that way for a moment, blocking his eyes with his flippers in order to stop the tears to ruin the ground. The Finiscan let his pain out, crying over his inability to do something right.

"Hoooowww, look at what we got here, guys!"

Toby instantly stopped sobbing upon hearing Benedict's voice. He slowly turned his head towards his back, and he saw the Hawk-man, standing over him, a smirk on his face, with a bottle of what appeared to be Montana's root beer in one of his talons. Already half empty.

"Aren't you a little cutie when you cry like that, huh? Huhuhuh! Toby cutie crying! Now, if your parents had called you Cody, that would have rhymed even better."

Benedict let out a loud hic, indicating this clearly wasn't his first bottle. And right now, Toby was in no mood to deal with the pompous jerkass, especially drunk as he was.

"What do you want, Benedict?" managed he to say without betraying his earlier sorrow, drying his tears while he did so.

"What do I want? Hah! What do I want, he asks! Hah! Hahaha! Nice one, Cody, nice one."

"It's Toby, you jerk."

"Cody, Toby, Broddie, Mary, Annie, Jimmy, Billy, all the same to me, Jody."

Benedict's face suddenly dropped, losing the smirk it had kept before.

"The only ones I remember are Auggie and Armandi."

The Rocket Hawk suddenly sat on the floor, and took another gulp at the bottle. A big gulp.

"Cheers to the happy family! Auggie, Armandi, Wisp, Sarret! Don't listen to your mother, kiddos, Daddy says it's fine if you get some tonight! Want some too Peck?"

Toby realized Benedict was actually talking at _him_. He was mistaking him for someone else, apparently.

"Come on, Peck! You're the eldest, man up a little! It's your parents' marriage anniversary after all.

 _Wait._ _ **WHAT?!**_

That's what Toby was thinking when he realized than, one, apparently Benedict was married, and two, Benedict was mistaking him for his _son_.

Toby felt sick.

"Hey! Why are you looking sick already? You didn't even have some! Hehehe!"

"Alright. Stop that, Benedict."

"Calling your old man by his name? Come on, I'm your father, Peck! You can call me Daddy, I promise I won't tell."

The Hawk-man took a very solemn air, and placed his free talon over his heart, apparently swearing to keep this a secret.

"Benedict. Stop it."

Toby was finding it harder and harder to keep his calm. He already was tired of Benedict sober, he didn't need Benedict completely drunk out of his a** mistaking him for his lost son.

"Na-ah-ah. Not before you said the magic work, Peck."

"MY NAME IS TOBY, YOU F*****G DEGENERATE! I'M NOT YOUR SON, AND I DON'T HAVE THE PATIENCE TO DEAL WITH YOU, TONIGHT, OR EVER! GET! THE F**K! OUT"

Toby's sudden outburst apparently startled Benedict enough for him to shut up, which in Toby's book, was a good point, especially since he wasn't used to yell at someone, even if that someone was, well, Benedict.

Until the now panting Finiscan saw Benedict's face change, taking a turn for the darker, and saw him getting up, and slowly walking towards the UPR weapons storage.

Towards his Rocket Launcher, precisely.

"I'll teach you" said Benedict while dropping the root beer to the ground "how to _properly_ talk to your father."

Toby could only watch in fear as the Hawk-Man entered swiftly the password required, and grabbed his Rocket Launcher.

"And you _better_. _Pay_. _Attention_."

Toby did the only sensible thing at this point.

"NOOOOOVAAAAAAAAA!"


	5. Chapter 5 : Deande : An initiative

**First thing first, thank you. The support I have been receiving for this story is just unbelievable, and I can't thank you all for your interest, your comments, your kind reviews, and your support. That really drives me to continue the story, and that means a lot to me.**

 **Now that the thank you part is over, here is the Author's Note : today's chapter is actually two chapters in one! Before you cheer, however, I must tell you I won't be able to write for a week, as I will be taking a vacation in Crete for a week, starting this Monday, and I will not have my laptop with me. That's why I'm treating you with a double treat today!**

 **This chapter is focused on Deande, guest starring the other commanders of the Battleborn and the spymistress' boyfriend. Enjoy :)**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Deande: An initiative_

If Deande had listened to her heart, she would have killed Kleese with her own hands right now.

Thankfully for the old scientist, and everyone else in the command room as of now, Deande was a woman who always followed her brain first and foremost. And said brain told her that Kleese was too valuable to kill over a petty feud, whatever insulting it might have seem to the spymistress.

That, and the fact Kleese was right, for once.

The old man had insulted her commanding abilities. Specifically, how she couldn't manage to keep the Jennerit Battleborn in check. Deande would have taken offense to that one, if:

The first one wasn't a psychotic, arrogant swordsman that couldn't bother to even try and make friends with anyone else, and whose temper was so unstable half of the inside conflicts involved him.

The second one wasn't a ruthless warrior, only obsessed with vengeance, blind to everything else, including his own future.

The third one wasn't a deranged, delusional priestess that was way too fond of burning her enemies alive and belittling her allies.

All in all, only Attikus and she were actually somewhat sane. Somewhat.

Deande's job was really hard, somedays.

That didn't stop her to throw a jab back at the old man, however.

"That's funny, Kleese, because I remember some Magnus you insulted for all the time he was in your employ, which caused him to try and kill you once the Magna Carta went offline. Must I remind you that it was the Battleborn that saved you?"

"I never pretended to command ISIC in the Battleborn" retorted Kleese, "unlike you, who affirms that you have a complete control over the Jennerit part of our little group, which you blatantly don't!"

"Someone tell me what we were talking about in the first place, again?" interrupted Reyna. The Rogues' leader wasn't one for in-fighting, ever, and while she couldn't reprimand her fellow commanding officers inside the Battleborn, she could still make them understand she was really tired with their s**t. " 'Cause I'm sure it didn't involve the two oldest people at the table fighting like a married couple."

Deande and Kleese both gagged at the affirmation, while Melka couldn't help but suppress a snicker. Ghalt, meanwhile, facepalmed, and sighed, deeply.

"Alright, everyone" said the first Battleborn. "Like Reyna reminded us, the point of this meeting wasn't to judge Deande and Kleese's performance at their jobs, which is fine for both, by the way" threw he at the spymistress and the scientist, "we were here to discuss what we could do now that Rendain is dead, and the Varelsi are still carrying on just fine. Despite the morale boost after Rendain's fall, we won't be able to continue for long at this rhythm. Each day, there's at least two Varelsi incursions occurring in the system, and what happened to Aurox today is a prime example of why we won't survive for long."

Everyone by now knew what happened to Aurox on today's mission. As of now, Miko was still busy trying to save the Djinn, and so far, the mushroom didn't know whether Aurox would survive the night or not, or if he might be able to fight again.

"Even though we received messages of potential new recruits willing to join us, should Aurox die, we will have lost the first Battleborn since this whole adventure started. And, as a former UPR Captain, I _know_ once the first losses start rolling, it's always going downhill afterwards."

"That's fine and all" said Melka, sitting with both her legs on the table of the command room, "but what do you want to do about that, Ghalt? It's not like the Varelsi will stop coming if we just ask them."

"Melka is right" said Deande. "Despite having access to Rendain's archives now that the tyrant is dead, we still don't have a single clue on how the Varelsi are operating. However, said archives tell us the resources of the Imperium, which we now have access to, are enormous, but not unlimited. There _will_ be a time where we're going to run short of them, and it might come sooner than we think if the Varelsi keep coming so frequently."

"Tell me something I don't know" sighed Ghalt. "What's worse, we might have in-fighting increasing exponentially from now on, seeing the stress is beginning to take its toll on us all."

"In-fighting?" asked Kleese. "More like in-rioting, you mean! The factions all hate each other! Despite your insistence on us sticking together, Ghalt, not everyone apparently got the memo."

"Oh, really?" taunted Melka. "Mind giving some examples, then, old coot?"

"You and Deande, for starters."

That one shut the Eldrid's mouth. It was no surprise Melka had been _very_ hostile of the spymistress at first, and even then, after all this time, their relationship was shaky, at best, despite efforts on both sides. Melka still held a deep resentment towards all Jennerit for darkening her homeworld, despite knowing that not all of them, not even a majority, were responsible. That didn't ease her grief, however, and her way to let it out was to become angry at the Jennerit, and by extension, at Deande.

The spymistress knew, however, that Melka didn't like being reminded of this flaw. Especially in front of other people.

"You old bastard…"

"Insulting me won't change anything, Melka. You hate Jennerit, and you only hate her" said he while pointing at Deande, "slightly less than the others. You also hate me, but that one isn't new."

"Alright everyone" said Ghalt, trying to calm the others. "I got the message. That still doesn't tell us _what_ to do about this ordeal. Any suggestions?"

The table became uncomfortably silent, Kleese fidgeting in his corner.

"Right. Thought so. Tell you what, I think we should take a break. Maybe after that, we will have all calmed ourselves and managed to find a _real_ solution to our problems." The First Battleborn managed to sound both tired and hopeful at the same time. "Ten minutes sounds alright to everyone?"

*o*o*o*o*

Deande was currently waiting at the coffee machine. She didn't know why, or how, but the foreign beverage-foreign to a Jennerit, at least-became an almost mandatory component of her life once she discovered about it. Being an Eternal had its perks, but even that didn't stop the occasional lacks of energy that happened when one didn't sleep enough. And her position made sure she _never_ slept enough.

This was why the spymistress was waiting in the as of now empty mess, watching her cup slowly filling with the brown nectar. Galaxies forbid, if the meeting was going to be as tedious as it has been already, she would need it.

"Hey there, handsome."

Deande couldn't help but smile upon hearing the voice. Turning around, she saw the grinning face of Whiskey Foxtrot, the clone soldier without his broken helmet, standing over a wall, arms crossed, and a smug look on his face, indicating he was clearly satisfied with how he managed to surprise his girlfriend.

Deande had heard him arrive five minutes ago, but she wasn't one to ruin his effects.

"Good evening, my dear. Might I know why you felt the need to see me tonight?"

"Figured you were bored as heck. Thought you would like other company than the boss, Melka, Ghalt and the old a*****e."

Deande couldn't help but smile as, yes, she was liking this other company very much.

"And, judging from your smile, I thought right."

"You know you're almost always right when it comes to me."

"It's not too hard, you don't hide anything from me."

Once again, this was true. When the unlikely couple started dating, they agreed to tell each other everything. The universe was ending, anyways, it's not like somebody would be around to judge, so they thought, might as well try to make this relationship work.

Deande was new to the whole 'living without secrets' lifestyle, but she came to enjoy it a lot more than she would have guessed, especially since Foxtrot was a very patient listener. One who didn't judge. And seeing her secrets had yet to be heard by almost everyone else in the Battleborn save Ghalt, a good secret keeper as well.

"You wouldn't believe how painful this meeting is."

"Let me guess. Kleese riled you up again?"

"Bingo. He basically told me my leadership skills were non-existent, and that the Jennerit Battleborn were wild cards that were just waiting to explode in our hands."

"I hope you know that's not the case, right?"

"Given the track record of our friends, the old jerkass might have a point, dear."

"Bulls**t. Without you, Rath would already have murdered half the ship by now, Caldarius would have killed the other half, and Ambra would have laughed at the whole thing."

Deande smiled at her boyfriend's protectiveness. Not that she needed protection in the first place, mind you, far from it. But that didn't stop her to like the intention.

"Thank you, dear. But that's not really what pains me about this meeting."

"Uh? What is it then?"

"You know there have been tensions in the crew lately, right?"

"Tensions? That's a way to sugar-coat it" said Foxtrot, as his face turned sad. "Marquis and Phoebe are on bad terms, ISIC still wants to murder everyone, Miko is beginning to show signs of overworking despite saying the opposite, Benedict has been an even bigger jerkass than usual, Galilea is still bitter towards Ambra, Orendi is pissed at Reyna about a mint syrup thing, Thorn and Rath are on even worse terms than ever, Melka and Boldur are fighting over why Mel left the Observatory, and even Montana got angry at Mike."

Deande couldn't help but be shocked at how her boyfriend knew so many things about the crew, and how the tensions had become worse than she feared. For Montana to be angry at anyone, that was already alarming, but at _Oscar Mike_ , of all people…

"And I suppose you and Mike are still…"

"Don't" cut the clone. "Please, don't. Him wanting to bang me is creepy enough without you adding your opinion on it."

"Whiskey. Foxtrot" said Deande in a menacing tone. "You know it will never end unless you try to go to him and _help_ him, rather than fleeing him."

"He creeps me out, hun! It's like a long-lost brother that suddenly decided to sleep with me! And he's not subtle about it, he send me cards! _Dirty_ cards!"

Deande had to do a double take upon hearing this.

"And if you don't talk to him" carried on the spymistress, "it will get worse. Don't ask me how, it just will."

Foxtrot sighed.

"I know you're right, Deande, but it's hard. Social problems are hard, for everyone."

"Luckily for you, you have a therapist for that, dear" teased the spymistress.

"Who knows" chuckled Foxtrot, "you might begin to charge people for this kind of help. Deande, official therapist for the Battleborn! How does that sound?"

The spymistress froze. She thought about that last sentence, turning it back in her head, and then a huge grin formed itself on her face.

"Hun? Are you alr-Hmph!"

Foxtrot had been interrupted by Deande kissing him wholeheartedly on the mouth.

"Dear" said she after the kiss, while wiping her lips, "you are a genius. I will see you tomorrow morning!"

And then she ran off back to the command room, leaving a dazed Whiskey Foxtrot in the mess.

"…The hell?!"

*o*o*o*o*

Everyone else was back in the command room, seeing as it was the end of the pause. Ghalt noticed Deande was strangely absent however, until she barged in the room, determined, and slammed her hands on the table, eliciting a surprised yell from Kleese.

"A therapist" said she. "That's what we need. We need a therapist."

"…What?" asked a confused Ghalt after a moment.

"The problem comes from the Battleborn having problems with each other, right? Then, if we had a therapist, we could listen to them, separately, and begin to work to create a common ground. Forcing them to like each other by bunking them together won't be enough, we will need them to _create_ that trust, and that means we have to find why they actually can't!"

The room was silent for a moment, until Kleese, of all people, voiced of his opinion.

"That might work."

Everyone else looked at him funnily.

"What? This is the best idea we've heard so far! Given that we're going to stay together for a long time, this is the most sensible option here!"

"I agree with the two" added Reyna. "Having an official therapist might be what we need."

"I agree too" said Melka. "Honestly, I'm surprised we didn't think of it any sooner."

"Well then" laughed Ghalt, "it seems this motion has been decided at unanimity. Deande, did you have anyone in mind for the job?"

"I thought of myself. Vanity aside, as a spymistress, my job was to keep secrets and find others. Given the Imeprium doesn't live anymore, my work charge was going to drop anyways, so that will keep me relevant with everyone else's roles in this room."

No one found something to say against this proposition.

"Very good. Deande, you are now officially appointed as the Battleborn's therapist. The new question now is, how are you going to proceed?"

"I will have to see which Battleborn needs psychological help the most at the moment, and then I will have to make them come and see me. Maybe the command room could serve as the cabinet while we're not in meeting. Then… We will see!"

"That seems fine by me" said Melka.

"I approve" said Reyna.

"Agreed" said Kleese

"I'm okay with it too" ended Ghalt. "And I might have the first candidate's name, by the way. Of course, I will give it in private, since this whole business is supposed to be secret, and all."

" _That will not be necessary, Captain_ " suddenly rang Nova's voice through the room, startling everyone.

"Nova?" asked Ghalt after a moment's notice. "What do you mean by that?"

" _What I mean is that Benedict, your candidate, will soon have his secrets left in the open for everyone to see, seeing he is trying to kill Toby in the armory as of now._ "

"WHAT?!" roared everyone in the room.

" _In fact, the first rocket he's going to fire should explode in about…_ "

A loud explosion sound rang through the ship, and the Nova slightly pitched.

" _...Now_." ended needlessly Nova.

Reyna was the first to act, bolting out of the room with murder in her eyes. The rest was too shocked by the news to react at first, until Ghalt managed to pull himself together, and yelled his orders.

"Everyone, to the armory! Quick!"


	6. Chapter 6 : Ghalt : The woes of command

**And here is the second chapter for today. Fair warning, it's the longest so far! This time, it features Ghalt, with appearances of a lot of other Battleborn. Plus, the reenacting of Mike's meeting with Ghalt about Benedict, which some people wanted me to write.**

 **Once again, thank you all for your support and your kind comments. Remember, this story is for you!**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Ghalt: The woes of command_

As Ghalt was rushing down towards the armory, Deande, Melka and a surprisningly nimble Kleese behind him, he could only think of one thing.

 _This can't be happening. This can't be happening. This can't be happening._

The worst nightmare of every commander wasn't what the enemy could do from without, but what the ally could do from within. And right now, Ghalt was living that nightmare awake.

As he rushed by, he could see other Battleborn, woken up in confusion at the sounds. Boldur, Thorn, Rath, El Dragon... He also saw Oscar Mike and Montana, who, unlike the others, had apparently caught on that something was amiss, and were also running towards the armory.

He could remember the conversation he had earlier today with those two. And, as if on cue, he remembered every bit of it in the most unlikely of moments…

*o*o*o*o*

 _"_ _Wow…" said Ghalt after he finished reading Benedict's letter. "That is a_ lot _to take in, boys. Where did you find it by the way, Mike?"_

 _Ghalt was sitting behind his desk, in his room, and held Benedict's letter in his right hand. Oscar Mike and Montana were standing in front of him, the duo of friends facing him nervously._

 _"_ _I hope you didn't go in Benedict's room to search his belongings, Mike!" warned Montana, always respectful of the other's privacy._

 _"_ _No! I found that one when I looked in the trash bin for my burrito I had let fall in! Benedict might have thought no one would look inside it, and that's why he threw the letter there."_

 _Oscar's story was made believable by the state of the paper, crumpled and stained with sauce stains. The fact Benedict had used paper was in itself a revelator of how importantly he considered his ritual, given the increasing rarity of the resource._

 _"_ _And what do you want me to do about this?" said the Captain. "I think it's clear Benedict doesn't want our help. And even though I am his commanding officer, that doesn't give me any rights over his brain."_

 _"_ _Captain, we need to do something about it! He may be an a**hole, but we now know why! We just can't leave him like that! He is going to kill himself slowly, at this point!"_

 _Ghalt wasn't used to see the clone soldier so serious and caring of others, that being generally Montana's role in the group. But to Ghalt, it meant Mike was taking this event very seriously, and that was enough for him to hear him out, at least._

 _"_ _Listen, Mike. Although I appreciate your concern for Benedict, as long as he doesn't want us to help him, I won't be able to do anything. I'm no therapist, and it's obviously what Benedict needs right now."_

 _"_ _Captain! You can't give up on him! It's obvious he has problems to everyone who could read_ this _!" said the clone while pointing at the letter. "Why don't you understand?"_

 _"_ _Mike" interrupted Montana, "You need to know how to respect Benedict's privacy. Although I wish I could help him, going to him now, with the letter in hand, will just make things worse."_

 _"_ _How could things get worse? I've heard more positive thinking out of Galilea than in this letter! And Gal is possessed by a f*****g demon! Benedict is going through hell, and we're going to sit by and let it happen?"_

 _Ghalt felt guilty at his inability to help Benedict, and Mike's sensible arguments didn't help matters._

 _"_ _Mike. I_ want _to help him. But, like Montana said, I_ can't _. If I were to go in Benedict's room and force him to spill the beans, he would probably snap, and that's the last thing we want."_

 _"_ _So we're going to let him in that state, then?" asked the clone soldier. "He is our comrade in arms, despite him being a douchebag, but we're going to leave him in his s**t just because it's the sensible thing to do? What a joke."_

 _"_ _Stop being so stubborn, Mike" sighed Montana. "Right now we can't help him. You can at least understand that, right?"_

 _"_ _Montana is right" added Ghalt, "I'm Benedict's commanding officer, not his psychiatrist. This problem isn't in my accreditations to resolve."_

 _"_ _When did accreditations stop you, Captain?" countered the clone. "Does 'Live together or die alone' remind you of something? That one would work if you didn't let Benedict actually die alone like you promised you wouldn't!"_

 _That one hurt Ghalt more than he predicted._

 _"_ _Remember this?" added the clone soldier while pointing at a picture displayed on Ghalt's desk, of all five Battleborn from the RPU, standing proud in Ekkunar's sunset, all of them smiling. "You told us we could consider you like a father figure, that we were family. Would you let your son in that state?"_

 _That one hurt Ghalt even more._

 _"_ _I won't go to him. You ordered me not to, and I will respect that."_

 _Oscar went for the door of Ghalt's office, and stood in it while adding:_

 _"_ _But mark my words: He_ will _snap. And when he does, it's not going to be pretty."_

 _He then got out of the room, Montana rushing to him, and Ghalt could hear them beginning to have a nasty argument, interrupted by Whiskey Foxtrot's coming into the office, which calmed the two soldiers outside._

 _"_ _Hey, Captain, boss asked me to tell you something happened to Shayne and Aurox, today. You better come and see in the med bay."_

 _Ghalt only half-listened to the other clone, however, looking at the picture of the five, smiling._

Galaxies. What mess did I got us into?

*o*o*o*o*

Ghalt's mind went back to the action, as the group was nearing the armory. Another explosion sound was heard, and the Nova picthed again. The running group wasn't fazed by this, all of them trained somewhat to fight in this kind of situations.

Oscar Mike looked at his commanding officer, his eyes hidden by his helmet.

"Is it him?"

"Yes" replied Ghalt wearily, "yes, it's him."

Oscar returned his gaze on the hallway in front of the group, but not before muttering a sad 'I knew it' that Ghalt managed to hear. Montana stayed quiet, knowing now was not a moment to make amends.

The group of six kept a steady pace, but still didn't catch up to Reyna, who had darted towards the armory before anyone else. They heard another explosion, but this, the ship didn't move. Ghalt had not time to ponder this point, seeing as they just passed over the engineering bay, and finally reached the armory. The door already being open, the group entered immediately.

What they saw was a warzone: they were already blast markings in three different points of the room, weapons had been knocked over, Kleese's Battle Throne lied on its side, a fire just started in the middle of the room.

And Toby was running away from a frenzied Benedict, who glided, jumped and ran around the room, trying to find good openings to shoot at the Finiscan. Toby's mecha, Berg, was still in the Rogues' corner of the room, untouched, so it was obvious who had started the aggression. Reyna was there, too, trying to find her plasma pistol in the pile of junk the Rogues kept here.

"Come back here! You hear? Come back here!" slurred Benedict, who despite performing martial feats, appeared to be drunk as heck. Toby just whimpered as he dodged one of Benedict's talons, diving under the UPR storage after that. Benedict snarled, and made way to move the storage system, until sudden pain shot inside his left arm, causing him to drop his rocket launcher.

"I will teach you to f**k with my crew, bird-brain!" shouted an angry Reyna, her plasma pistol firing another shot, which also made Benedict recoil.

The Hawk-man recovered quickly, however, and grabbed his rocket launcher before taking to the air, dodging Reyna's third shot.

"Stay out of this" threatened Benedict. "It's between him and me."

To make his point valid, he shot another rocket, this time at Reyna, who quickly activated her Photonic Ward to protect herself from the attack.

"PRIVATE AUGUST BENEDICT!" shouted Ghalt, calling the bird's full name, hoping his authority would reach through him.

Judging from the fact the Hawk-Man stopped his assault, it apparently worked.

"Captain?" croaked he. "What… What are you doing here?"

"Last time I checked" answered Ghalt, "this is _my_ ship. Ship you're actively trying to destroy by shooting rockets in its walls!"

Benedict looked around as if he just emerged from a bad dream, realization dawning upon his face.

"Oh no… Galaxies, no… What have I done?" muttered the Hawk-Man.

"You tried to kill one of my crew, that's what you did" said Reyna, her Ward disappearing. "Ghalt, I don't know the why or the how, but this nutjob needs to go. I will not have him at risk of snapping and trying to kill Toby again."

Toby, sensing the fighting calmed down, emerged back from the weapon storage, his eyes wide with fear, and his feathers completely ruffled.

Everyone in the room watched Ghalt intently, with the exception of Benedict, still coming to terms with his actions.

The unspoken dilemma as of now for the captain was whether to allow Benedict to stay or not, knowing full well he would anger either Reyna or Oscar Mike by doing so. Surprisingly, even for himself, he decided in not even a few seconds.

"Benedict will stay with us. We can't afford to lose a Battleborn as of now. Captain's orders."

He could almost hear the relieved sigh of Mike behind him, but this small satisfaction was short-lived when Toby, of all people, became angry at him.

"Excuse me? Captain, he tried to kill me! Because he was too drunk! And you expect us to accept this and move on? You expect me to just go on as if nothing happened? Are you _insane_?"

"Who tried to kill who?" rang another voice from behind them.

Turning around, Ghalt saw that all the other Battleborn, save for Miko and Aurox, had gathered around the armory's entrance, and the one that just talked was ISIC, his holographic, maniac grin ever present on his digital skull face.

"I'm just asking because I didn't have my bloodshed quota this week, and that means I'm really bored. Who must I thank for making my day?"

Everyone else ignored his comments, used as they were by now to the homicidal Magnus, but the question he just asked still was in everyone's heads: what just happened.

"What just happened" answered Reyna before Ghalt could do so, "is that Benedict tried to kill Toby, because he apparently was too drunk to make the difference between friend or foe."

Among the rest of the Battleborn, surprised exclamations and shouts were heard, ranging from the ones trying to understand why would he do that, to those that thought it wasn't surprising and that Benedict was just a moron that went too far, to those that couldn't believe the Hawk-Man could have done such a thing.

"Alright, everyone, alright, let's calm down. Benedict's actions have attenuating circumstances, and he will be sanctioned as he deserve, but let's not rush things, okay?"

"Wait, wait. You intend to only sanction him?" asked Thorn. "He is a traitor, he shot at a comrade in arms! Why don't you just shoot him?"

"Such behaiour shall not be permitted among us. Off with his head, I say!" added Ambra.

"I side with the people who wants the bird beheaded" said ISIC, "as I want to people dying in their own blood, and doing so would grant me this wish."

"BLOOD! BRAINS! EXECUTION! SMOOTHIES! But more importantly, BLOOD!" shrieked Orendi like a madwoman.

Ghalt became nervous. Things were _not_ going as planned. He didn't think Benedict's actions would garner an opposition this strong.

"Wow, calm down people!" interrupted Whiskey Foxtrot. "Don't you think you might go a little too fast, here? Toby _wasn't_ killed, and it's obvious bird-brain wasn't in his right mind."

"Foxtrot?" asked Reyna "You're siding with _Benedict_?"

"I'm siding with reason" countered Foxtrot. "What we need to do is to help him, not kill him."

"What he said" added Oscar Mike, "Benedict just snapped, okay? It could have been anyone of us in his place, faced with someone we don't like. Do you people really thought fighting the Varelsi 24/7 would be healthy?"

"I'm siding with him too" said Montana. "We don't kill friends, here. Not us. That's what Rendain would have done, but not us."

That point managed to calm down Ambra, who quietly took back her support.

"Boldur doesn't like killing friend, either. Not true woodsman's honor code!"

"Same" added Melka. "Executing him won't solve anything. And like Ghalt said before, we can't afford to lose a Battleborn."

Ghalt felt his nervousness recede partially. At least, not everyone was willing to kill Benedict, which was really welcome.

"Well, I don't agree with this bulls**t."

To everyone's surprise, Shayne broke through the crowd, stood in front of Ghalt, and, despite having been a complete mess earlier today, stood still, and looked at Ghalt determinately.

"Right now, Aurox is being operated by Miko in the med bay. If Toby hadn't been here on Bliss with us two, today, he would be dying in a cave right now. So, forgive me for saying so, Captain, but I won't let Benedict get out of killing one of the nicest people alive, and one of my best friends, so easily."

"And I won't, either" added Reyna. "We shouldn't even have this argument right now. Benedict is unstable, and if you want to jeopardize the Battleborn by letting him live, then you will have to do without the support of the Rogues."

Ghalt recoiled in shock at Reyna's bombshell of a threat. The Battleborn couldn't survive the loss of one fifth of their headcount. Solus couldn't. The Captain was cornered: was he really going to sacrifice a soldier to save his alliance with the Rogues?

"Damn it, guys!" shouted Mike. "Of course he was going to get drunk today! It's his marriage's anniversary, and for all he knows, his wife and children are dead!"

Benedict suddenly came back to life, turning his head towards Mike, eyes fixated on him.

"How do you know?" asked he, slowly and threateningly.

"Your last letter" answered Mike. "I wouldn't have spit it out like that, normally, but this is to save your hide."

"That letter was personal, you little s**t" said Benedict, still calm. The Hawk-Man rose to his feet, all trace of alcohol apparently having left his body. "You had _no_ right to look at it."

"I know. But you need help, Benedict."

The Hawk-Man said nothing for a moment. The room was quiet, everyone being silent while taking in the revelation. Until Benedict shrieked.

The bird lunged at Mike, talons out, aiming to claw at him, and possibly worse.

That's when Ghalt launched his hook at him, which interrupted his charge. Once in range, Ghalt punched him in the beak, before throwing him at the ground. He then took one of his Shotgun-Revolver from the storage system nearby, and aimed at Benedict's head.

"You are not making things easier for you, Benedict."

Everyone took a step back at Ghalt's sudden display of strength, remembering why he was the Captain.

"Listen to me well, Benedict. You need help. I didn't listen to Mike when he told me so, and I now understand I was wrong to do so. Thankfully" said he while looking at the rest of the Battleborn for a moment, "we just agreed to put in place psychological help for the Battleborn in the command council, just before our friend here decided to tear my ship a new one."

" _That hurt, by the way. Ouch_ " added Nova in dry sarcasm.

"So, Benedict, you are to be the first of us to test this new service, provided by Deande. And let me be clear, once and for all."

Ghalt grabbed Benedict by the neck, and locked eyes with him.

"Whatever your reasons, motives, or anything else, you tried to kill two of us, tonight. If you try that stunt a third time, I will personally make sure your brain gets splattered on the wall behind you in the instant."

"YEEEEEEEESSSSSS! GORE!" shrieked Orendi. Everyone paid her no mind.

"Am. I. Clear?"

Benedict gulped, before nodding his assentment.

"Good."

Ghalt dropped him on the floor unceremoniously.

"Nova, Benedict is to be under surveillance as of now. Do not let him go near his weapons and tactical gear unless he is on the way to a mission, even to clean it off. I will take care of that part. If he disobeys this order, or tries to fight with another Battleborn, you are to warn me immediately, as well as any other Battleborn in the vicinity. Understood?"

" _Crystal clear, Captain._ "

"Excellent. Get back to your room, everyone. I think that's enough action for one night."

The Battleborn, to the exception of the commanders, dispersed without a word, silenced by Ghalt's display of authority. Before Toby could go out of the armory, however, Ghalt called his name.

"I think someone here wants to give you an apology" said the Captain while pointing at Benedict.

The Hawk-man, still on the floor, looked at Toby, then looked away in shame, and muttered a 'I'm sorry'.

Toby saw how down Benedict looked like, and how regretful he was of his actions, and decided to not say a thing, and went off the room.

"I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt, Ghalt" said Reyna once the Finiscan was out. "But if he can't be helped by Deande, then you _will_ put him down."

Ghalt silently nodded his agreement at the Rogue's leader request. Reyna nodded too, and went out the armory, followed by Melka and Kleese, who bid their farewell, leaving only Deande, Ghalt and Benedict.

"I suppose he was the first candidate you had in mind?" said Deande casually, while looking at Benedict, who was still looking away.

"He was" confirmed Ghalt. "And hopefully he will be the last."

"That, Captain, I wouldn't place my money on."


	7. Chapter 7 : Melka : Acceptance

**Hello everyon, Darren here.**

 **I wanted to apologize in advance for the longer delay than usual before this update. After I hit my holidays, I started my summer job and at the same time I hit writer's block. Which means I didn't write for a while.**

 **While I believe this chapter is clearly not one of my best, I am at least glad it means I overcame that block, and that it is in my opinion at least a decent read. A new chapter is coming real soon, maybe even today, and that one will be far better.**

 **On to the story now: Given the Battleborn are a** ** _very_** **divided group, you couldn't have thought Benedict would be the only one with problems regarding the others. I'm setting a new plot point between two other characters I only brushed slightly before, and it is not a pretty one. Enjoy the read :)**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Mellka: Acceptance_

Melka was busy buying herself a coffee in the mess hall as of now, still recovering from the events in the armory.

 _Why must that machine be so slow? Damn the LLC and their Premium Speed Coffee packages._

And currently, said coffee was taking its sweet time to arrive, thanks to the LLC tampering with the machine to make it way slower than it could be, unless one were to buy triple for the premium services.

Of course, Melka's nerves weren't quite happy with this turn of events. She was already stressed enough as it was with the Varelsi invasion and Benedict's breakdown, she didn't need to get angry at the machine on top of that.

While the dark liquid was slowly making its way into the plastic goblet, Melka was busy searching inside her two datapads, aiming to classify the new documents sent by the Observatory to her, as she was the Eldrid representative inside the Battleborn.

"Alright. What do the pompous old morons have to say?"

Usually, the Observatory was out of sight of Melka's legendary sarcasm. But tonight was not usual, and with the recent insults said Observatory sent her, she decided to not give a damn.

"Requirements of help in Ekkunar's outback, progress on the reverse-engineering of old Ekkuni tech, political backstabbing… Geez, this is always the same thing with them."

She promptly dismissed any favor small players in the Obervatory asked her, automatically agreed to help the refugees in the outback, and sent the progress reports to the lab, hoping Kleese, Ghalt and Phoebe would know better than her on the subject.

She saw her coffee was finally done, and stood up to go get it. Grabbing the goblet with her right hand (the one not currently merged with a bio-weapon), she proceeded back to the table, sipping from her coffee while resuming her work.

Suppressing a wince from the coffee's bitterness, she opened another folder, and began going through the files there too, when she heard footsteps behind her. Looking behind her, she saw Boldur approaching her.

 _Weird… Why would Boldur come and see me at this- oh. Yeah, that._

Melka winced as she recalled a particularly violent argument she got into with Boldur a couple of days ago, about why Mel left the Observatory. It had involved shouting and fist banging on the table, and had not been pleasant.

Deciding she might have been a little too rough at the time, she decided that she would apologize to the dwarf.

"Hello, Melka" said the dwarf in an unusually calm tone.

"Hi, Boldur. Didn't see you coming. How do you do?"

Melka decided to play it safe, and not antagonize him further.

"I'm fine. But I wanted to talk to you, young oak."

"You wanted to talk. To me. At 3 am. After Benedict woke all of us up. You sniffed too much on those Ekkuni herbs or something, recently?"

Melka giggled a little, though she quickly shut up when she saw that Boldur was not impressed not at all.

"Seriously, though" carried she on, "I was busy sorting reports, but otherwise I'm down. Could it wait tomorrow morning? Well, this day's morning, now."

"I believe I've waited long enough for this, Melka. You will not escape the matter this time."

At once, Melka shot a look around the empty mess hall. And saw that she was in a corner, and Boldur's large frame effectively stopped her to reach the exit. Which, given what she thought she was going to hear, would have been her first course of action.

"You mean to say you wanted to trap me alone in a place where I couldn't escape" dryly remarked the Eldrid vigilante.

"I wouldn't have to do that if you didn't run from your responsibilities in the first place, young oak. It's time we had a real discussion of where your loyalties currently lie."

There it was. Melka would have facepalmed, if her only free arm wasn't the one hosting a venomous bio-weapon.

"For the umpteenth time, Boldur, I acted with the Eldrid's interests in mind since the beginning of the war for Solus. You may think I forced you and the surviving Eldrid in the Battleborn, but it's Rendain who did. Ghalt had a plan to _win_ , the Observatory just had one to survive. I hardly call allying with our only hope a betrayal of the Eldrid ideals."

"And yet you killed the Guardian, _Hyenyota_."

Melka winced. When Boldur used her old name, the one the Eldrid elders gave her, she knew she was in big trouble.

"I know" she said softly. "And believe me when I say it was one of the worst things I ever had to do. But it was that or having it under Rendain's command. I couldn't let that happen. And I remember you were here that day, too. You remember the Guardian shooting down our proposal of alliance."

"We could always have stopped the Jennerit to enter the temple. Nova could have bombarded the entrance to make it crumble, we could have installed an outpost there, we could have done something else!"

"Us and what army?" countered Melka. "In case you forgot, the reformed Jennerit Empire supports us because we killed Rendain. Before that, we just had whatever the LLC wanted to donate to us."

"We should have tried."

Melka groaned at the dwarf's stubbornness, dumbfounded that the elder couldn't understand desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Yes, we should. We should also have tried to stop the fires in the Arcanum with water buckets, we should have tried to stop the storm over Amenine with our bare hands, we should have done a lot of things. Are you even listening to yourself? We would have died along with the Guardian! Or worse, we would have died and then the Guardian would have been used by Rendain to make even _more_ people die!"

Melka stopped in her rant, apparently realizing something.

"You know that already, do you, Boldur?"

The Ekkuni dwarf suddenly became confused, not catching on what Melka was meaning.

"What do you mean?"

"I know what your real problem is with me, Boldur. You just had to find an excuse for it, and the whole Guardian fiasco was just what you needed to let you sleep at night."

"What in the Elders' name are you talking about?"

"You just despise me because I'm only half-Aelfrin, am I right?"

Boldur's look of understanding, then shock, then guilt, then back to a half-assed attempt to appear neutral, were everything Melka needed to know.

"I knew it. You hated me from the first day we spoke, didn't you?"

"Young oak, you know it's not like that! I'm just concerned for your-"

"If you want to mess with me, you will have to learn how to lie first, you fat bastard" snarled the vigilante; anger slowly creeping its ugly head inside her ideas. "Everything makes sense, now. I'm so dumb to not have seen the signs before. Thorn hates me for apparently no reason, you always criticize my life choices, the Observatory declared me a liability before backpedaling…"

"Enough, Hyenyota. You will learn how to speak to the elders of your people-"

"I thought I _wasn't_ part of your people? Or maybe I just imagined the fact you consider me a bastard, a taint on the Eldrid, on the Aelfrin's legacy? The fact that you consider me too _human_?"

That stopped Boldur in his tracks, the dwarf realizing he was now threading over very dangerous ground.

"To think I even let this" said Melka while holding her bio-weapon up, "be placed inside me just to come back to my Eldrid roots, to make amends with my people, only for you all to tell me to fuck off."

"Melka" retried Boldur, softer this time, tentatively holding a hand towards the Eldrid vigilante, "While it's true we all had- _have_ " changed he when he saw the 'don't lie to me' look Melka shot him, "issues with your father's species, and how you are so different to us on a lot of points, I am really worried over you."

"Yeah, and I'm Empress Lenore" snarked back Melka. "I know I never stepped on Eshteni, but forgive me for being born _after_ its Darkening! I know I never have been inducted correctly into the Observatory by way of the riuals, but forgive me for trying to lead us into a war! I know I don't know even half of what an Eldrid child should know, but forgive me for being raised in space! You may care, but that's only because you would feel bad about it afterwards, not because you _genuinely_ cared!"

Boldur didn't answer, which prompted Melka into a sad smile.

"See? You're just so stubborn, so lost in your traditions, your rituals, your memories, that you can't even understand how _I_ could feel about this. Besides my parents, Ghalt was the first man to see me for what I am, and not what I could have been. The only thing I ever demanded of the Eldrid was to accept me, to give me a fucking chance to prove my worth, to see me as Ghalt saw me. I destroyed Varelsi for you, I did covert operations for you, I spent nights reading reports after reports like those" pointed she at her datapad, "only for me wanting to hear, I don't know, how about a 'well done Melka', or a 'Good job, Melka', or even a 'I'm proud of you, young oak'."

Boldur realized the last example had been aimed at him.

"And yet, what I hear is 'Melka is a bastard', 'her haircut is dumb', 'look how she dresses', 'she's not like us', 'she will never be like us', and then some! Oh, sorry, I forgot the best part!"

She took her face closer to Boldur's, almost whispering the last sentence, her voice tinged with hurt.

"'Why don't you try to take example on Thorn?'"

Melka suddenly realized she had been crying for quite some time in her rant, now, and she hurriedly wiped them out with her good arm.

"Do me a favor" said she in a slightly better state, while busy taking back her stuff from the table, "Don't try to talk to me for a while, unless it has to do with stuff in the Battleborn. Good night."

And just like that, she shot out of her chair, past a lump Boldur, and towards the exit. When the Eldrid vigilante had left, Boldur finally came back to life, drawing a long sigh.

"Ancestors, what have I done?"


	8. Session 1: Benedict

**Hello everyone, Darren Xirias here, with the new chapter I promised you less than a day ago.**

 **Now, I will be honest, I'm trying something new here. Since you now know Deande's new job, it stands to reason that she would keep tracks of what she does with her patients. So, the 'therapy sessions' chapters are going to be written just like the audio lore from the game itself, which means they will be written like literal transcriptions of an audio file, in this case, the recording of the session. It will then be followed by a short scene from the patient's perspective.**

 **The first patient is Benedict, and you already know his issues aren't going to go away easily... As usual, R &R! **

*o*o*o*o*

 _Session 1: Benedict_

 **Written transcription of the therapy session between the therapist, Deande, former spymistress of the Jennerit Imperium, NCO commander of the Battleborn, and official therapist of the** ** _Nova_** **, and the patient, August Benedict, RPU Private and member of the Battleborn. Audio file joined.**

 **(Beginning of the transcription)**

 **Deande:** Good morning, Benedict.

 **Benedict:** 'Mornin', Doc…

 **Deande:** Have you slept well?

 **Benedict** : I slept in a goddamned cell while trying to recover from my hangover… What do you think?

 **Deande** : Apparently not. Would you like some coffee?

 **Benedict** : Hell no. Ain't touching this. Might be some 'truth serum', or something you spies do.

 **Deande** : I am not a spy anymore.

 **Benedict** : You didn't deny it.

 **Deande** : There is no need to. Because truth serums do not exist.

 **Benedict** : You sure?

 **Deande** : I am quite sure. If it did, it would have spared me a great deal of time when orchestrating Rendain's downfall. But enough about me. Today, we're here to talk about you.

 **Benedict** : Yeah, wonderful…

(Walking sounds)

 **Ghalt** : Sorry, you already started?

 **Deande** : Good morning, Captain. We were just starting. You can place this here, thank you.

 **Benedict** : …Captain? What the heck are you doing here?

 **Ghalt** : I'm helping Deande moving some stuff in the room. She's going to spend some time in it for the future, so I thought I might help.

 **Deande** : He won't be staying around for the session, however. I insisted that those sessions be spent in private. He will have access to the recordings of the session today if you don't wish the opposite.

 **Ghalt** : That should be the last one, by the way. You will have to tell me why you have so much pictures of the Empress in your room. It's kinda creepy.

 **Deande** : One more word, Captain, and you will be assured Reyna and Melka find in their mailbox some sites about 'capillary protheses' you tend to consult.

 **Ghalt** : What? You spied on me?"

 **Deande** : It's hardly spying if you don't erase the history, Captain.

 **Ghalt** : …I will be going now.

 **Deande** : Thank you, Captain

 **(Walking sounds)**

 **Benedict** : …'Capillary prostheses'?

 **Deande** : You did not hear anything. At all.

 **Benedict** : Hearing about what?

 **Deande** : Good. So, August Benedict. You probably know why you're here, am I right?

 **Benedict** : I do.

 **Deande** : Sorry, I didn't explain myself completely. Can you tell me why you're here?

 **Benedict** : Are you serious?

 **Deande** : Yes.

 **Benedict** : You already know.

 **Deande** : Yes.

 **Benedict** : Yet, you want me to tell it again.

 **Deande** : Yes.

 **Benedict** : What's the goddamn point?

 **Deande** : If we want to make some progress, you will have to trust me on this one, Benedict.

 **Benedict** : And what if I don't?

 **Deande** : I will tell Reyna you refused to cooperate with me. I'm sure she will take the news kindly after your little stunt, last night.

 **Benedict** : …I will trust you.

 **Deande** : Excellent! Well then, let's start again. Benedict, do you know why you're here?

 **(Benedict takes a sharp breath)**

 **Benedict** : I'm here because of… what happened… last night.

 **Deande** : And what did, exactly, happen last night?

 **Benedict** : I… got drunk. Should have known it was a very bad idea, but I didn't, so, there's that.

 **Deande** : Surely, you wouldn't be here if you just got drunk one evening. What happened after you got drunk?

 **Benedict** : Hangover. I don't remember s**t.

 **Deande** : Need I remind you that I'm the only one stopping Reyna to murder you right now? It's not a smart idea to lie to me, Benedict.

 **Benedict** : I don't lie.

 **Deande** : I was busy interrogating captives and finding secrets about Jennerit nobles before your ancestors to the fifth generation before now even _existed_. I can tell when someone lies to me. Last. Warning.

 **Benedict** : **(Benedict sighs)** Forgot that Eternisation thingy. Alright, I admit it, I f****d up last night. I tried to kill Toby while I was drunk for no reason at all. There, you happy?

 **Deande** : No.

 **Benedict** : Oh, for crying out loud!

 **Deande** : I am not happy because you tried to murder one of your teammates, not because you told me so. Thankfully for you, I am here to understand why you did it.

 **Benedict** : There is nothing to understand. The little idiot probably pissed me off

 **(Sound of an audio log being opened, Benedict's voice comes out of it)**

 ** _Benedict_** _: I'll teach you how to_ properly _talk to your father._

 **(Silence)**

 **Deande** : Courtesy of Nova, before you ask.

 **Nova** : _Hi._

 **Benedict** : …Damn it…

 **Deande** : I also happen to have a certain letter of yours on my datapad, as well. The read has been quite interesting, I assure you.

 **Benedict** : Does no one on this goddamned ship knows what privacy means?

 **Deande** : Right now, you have a lot of problems in your talons, Benedict. And if I violated your privacy, it's because I believe I can help you.

 **Benedict** : You can't. Believe me on that one, Jennerit. You. Can't.

 **Deande** : Oh, a challenge? Trust me, I am sure we will be able to make progress if you show yourself cooperative enough.

 **Benedict** : You can't help me! No one on Madan could! No one in the UPR could! My family couldn't! The only one that made me truly better than I was, the only one who made me strong enough to carry on, is DEAD! She's dead because of the Varelsi, because of your asshole of a boss, she's dead, and our children with her!

 **(Silence)**

 **Deande** : Benedict, please sit back on the chair.

 **Benedict** : Is that really all you have to say? 'Sit back on my chair'? Are you kidding me?

 **Deande** : No, but I remember last time you moved that way, someone almost died. Forgive me for being a bot weary.

 **(Silence, followed by the sounds of Benedict sitting back)**

 **Deande** : I assume you were talking about Circinae.

 **Benedict** : Of course I was. Who else? She's the one I wrote all those pathetical letters for. She would laugh at me if she could see them.

 **Deande** : Tell me a bit more about her, Benedict.

 **Benedict** : For what? So that all the others will shoot me looks of pity tomorrow morning? So that everyone knows August Benedict is a complete wreck?

 **Deande** : Because you can't keep it to yourself forever.

 **Benedict** : I already did so, and I will continue.

 **Deande** : You can't seriously consider to let her memory fester inside you for all eternity, Benedict.

 **Benedict** : Of course you wouldn't understand. What do you know of losing people dear to you, spymistress?

 **Deande** : I am more than 2 000 years old, Benedict. I had the time to see generations of my friends and my family dying. I saw Lenore thrown into the Void by Rendain. I saw my husband die to the claws of the Thralls before you were even born. So, forgive me for saying so Benedict, but you and your assumptions can f**k off.

 **Benedict** : …I didn't know.

 **Deande** : It's the past. I will forever remember the moments spent with them, but today, I am a Battleborn. Living in the past brings nothing else but sadness and regrets, Benedict. I can vouch for that.

 **(Silence)**

 **Benedict** : …But it's so hard…

 **(Benedict sobs)**

 **Benedict** : Every time I sleep, I see them in my dreams. Every planet I visited, every war theater I survived, I think of her and what sarcastic comments on the scenery she would have made to lift the mood. Every time I see a family among the refugees, I remember my kids, how old they would be today.

 **(Benedict sobs)**

 **Benedict** : I try to drown my sorrows by drinking, and shooting, and drinking some more, but it doesn't work. NOTHING WORKS!

 **(Benedict begins to cry in earnest. Light footsteps are heard)**

 **Deande** : I know. I know.

 **Benedict** : I am a complete failure. I screw up everything I touch, everything I love. I couldn't defend them when it mattered the most, I can't move on, I even tried to blame the others for my failures, when it was me all along. It always has been my fault!

 **(Silence, cut by Benedict's crying intermittently)**

 **Benedict** : I even thought to flee Solus. I couldn't even grow the spine to stand up against Rendain! Even with my own existence on the line, I can't do s**t!

 **Deande** : You're wrong.

 **Benedict** : Huh?

 **Deande** : You're wrong. You stood up against Rendain. You fought him and his troops alongside us, you never ran away from a battle. You're not a coward!

 **Benedict** : And what of Madan, then? I fled Madan. I didn't flee Solus in the end because there was nothing left to run to. I stood up because I had no choice! I _am_ a coward!

 **Deande** : You had the choice to follow the rest of the UPR and wait for the end to come. And yet, you joined Ghalt in what was essentially a suicide mission without a second thought. We all make mistakes, and you already learned from some of yours.

 **Benedict** : I don't… I didn't…

 **Deande** : You are a Battleborn, and don't you forget it. When the night was the darkest, you were there to fight. And you still are.

 **Benedict** : I still tried to murder a teammate…

 **Deande** : And your anger management issues will be the focus of our next session, tomorrow morning, same hour. I believe you had your fair share of emotional breakdown for today.

 **(Deande giggles, Benedict laughs coarsely. Sounds of a chair being pulled and of Deande sitting back.)**

 **Deande** : Now, I believe it was El Dragon in the kitchen for this morning's breakfast. Better hurry up, you wouldn't want to miss his peanut butter burritos.

 **Benedict** : I still don't know how he manages to make this thing be actually tasty.

 **Deande** : Maybe you will find out if you eat some today. Go on, now, shoo! Out of my cabinet.

 **(Benedict stands up. The door opens.)**

 **Benedict** : Deande? Thank you. That… It felt good to… let it out loud.

 **Deande** : You're welcome. It's my job now, remember?

 **(End of transcription)**

*o*o*o*o*

Benedict somewhat-good mood instantly vanished when he entered the mess hall. Almost all of the Battleborn were here, with the exception of Marquis and ISIC, of course, as well as Deande. Surprisingly, even Miko and Kelvin were here, despite the both of them needing a very peculiar diet. They were probably just here to socialize, the Aviant guessed. The problem came from the Rogues' table.

Everyone saw how Toby became silent the moment he saw Benedict entered the room. And everyone was wary of what would happen next.

Benedict shivered at the glare the Finiscan sent him, bearing a level of hate he never thought he would see on his face. Thankfully, Toby resumed eating in silence, which let the tension in the room die down, but not before

"Oi, Benedict!" heard the Aviant from his right. Turning his head in that direction, he saw Oscar Mike waving at him from the table he and Montana shared, his helmet still on.

"Why don't you come over here? Dragon's burritos are terrific today, we left you some!"

And sure enough, on a third plate, stood two of Dragon's deliciously reality-breaking burritos, still steaming hot.

Before he even registered what he was doing, Benedict was sitting at the table, and was busy shoving down his beak one of said burritos.

"Wow, someone is hungry here!" said Montana, chuckling. His unbelievably large hands somehow managed to hold his meal without crushing it. He would have asked if the Aviant hadn't eaten anything last night, but he suddenly remembered what happened, and decided to stay silent on the matter.

"You bet I am!" said the Hawk-Man between two bites. "I'm famished. Shouldn't have skipped the dinner yesterday."

"Real soldiers must eat three times a day!" proudly announced Mike. "We need it for beating the bad guys with awesomness!"

"Mike, beating someone with awesomness doesn't mean anything" said calmly the giant lumberjack, not even letting his eyes off his burrito.

"Of course it means something!" indignantly shouted back Mike. "It's when you're killing bad guys. But you look awesome while doing it! Like, with explosions, swooning fangirls, orchestral music in the background, that kind of awesome!"

"And how do you plan to make an orchestra play in the middle of the battlefield?" asked Montana in the same even tone.

"That's not _my_ job to think of that, pal. I'm here for the asskicking!"

Mike flexed his arm muscles while speaking, managing to let some peanut butter fall on his helmet.

"Aaaah! I don't see s**t again!"

Montana drew a heavy sigh, and cleaned the helmet of a panicked Oscar Mike, while Benedict looked at the pair in bewilderment.

Then, he laughed.

Montana and Mike looked at him, surprised to hear the Aviant letting out a genuine laugh, and not one of condescendence.

"Man" managed to say Benedict, once his fit passed, "you should really try to create a show. You two are a riot!"

Montana chuckled at that, while Mike was still busy acting panicked because of the peanut butter.

And for the first time in years, Benedict smiled in earnest.


	9. Chapter 8: Phoebe: Care

**Hello everyone, DarrenXirias here, with a new chapter for Aftermath!**

 **This chapter continues on Phoebe and Marquis' story arc unveiled in chapter three, and I must say I had more fun writing this chapter than I thought I would. Here's to hoping you guys like it as well :)**

 **I also have a big announcement to make: at first, I had imagined this fic as a series of disconnected drabbles, with the first chapter written as a semi one-shot with an opening on the rest of the potential story, just in case, but the overwhelming number of positive reviews and comments made it morph into something more meaningful. I'm telling you this because, while this fic is and will be primarily about the Battleborn's emotional issues and how they deal with it, I have now ideas for bigger story arcs, and bigger events. Such as battles.**

 **Don't get your hopes too high for the next chapter, though, as it will focus on another character's hard time dealing with how messed up life in Solus is. But the next one...**

 **I already said too much^^ So, like usual, R &R, and see you next time :)**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Phoebe: Care._

The engineering bay of the _Nova_ was a very personal place to Phoebe. Given only Kleese, Ghalt and her, and somewhat Toby, had skills in this domain, the room initially designed for a whole squad of engineer of the UPR allowed the inventors of the Battleborn a lot of leeway and place when doing their thing.

Ghalt's corner was the typical engineer desk of the RPU, littered with simple, one-tasked projects, not that Phoebe meant that as a bad thing: when Ghalt worked on something, he almost never experimented. He never worked on IAs. What he did was purely mechanical, pure enginery, nothing scientifical or biological. He worked on improving one gun's recoil, another's fire rate, the effective range on their explosives… Ghalt wasn't doing anything groundbreaking, but without him, the Battleborn would be completely lost, in more ways than one.

Kleese's corner was quite the opposite. The old man was smart, Phoebe couldn't deny him that. He was, however, very selfish, and almost never worked on anything remotely useful for the Battleborn, preferring to study whatever his mind took interest in. One day it was the culture of a hydroponic native to Ekkunar in a dry environment, the other it was the analysis of the societal interactions of minions. Sometimes, though, those projects were dangerous, such as the day he brought a fully paralyzed Thrall for study. It had been both very dangerous for the ship's inhabitants, as a loose Thrall could do a fair bit of damage before being put down, but also to Kleese, as Attikus had been absolutely _furious_ , and had menaced to eviscerate Kleese with his own hands for ever treating his brothers' lives so callously, despite them being enemies. As such, Kleese's desk was the typical mad scientist's study, with weird plants going out everywhere around it, several flasks containing different organs of unknown beasts, as well as Kleese's personal datapad files littered everywhere.

Phoebe's corner was reflective of her different approach compared to the other two. Phoebe worked on _science_ , on innovative, progressive, _elegant_ science. Whereas Kleese was doing whatever he wanted to do (she had heard the Battle Throne had been finished by his employees, as the original design would have caused an explosion at best, and a reality-warping anomaly at worst, and they had enough of _those_ with the Varelsi), and Ghalt focused on utilitarian, Phoebe created, invented, perfected. Her desk was clean and organized despite the positively huge number of projects she was working on, and her personal datapad had files classified by their date, relevance and the project they were associated with. She performed the operations alone, whether it be calculating, building or testing.

She was the one that first managed to create a technology similar to the Varelsi's portals, with her Phasegate device. She was the one who unveiled some of the mysteries of the Aztanti civilization, with both daring expeditions in their temples and careful analysis of their artifacts. She was the one who designed the state of the art set of rapiers she always carried with her in battle.

Phoebe was a genius.

That fact was of little comfort while she was busy working on old memory logs of her robotic butler. Well, former robotic butler, now.

She remembered the demission form she had seen in her mailbox not an hour after the incident in Miko's infirmary. Polite, flawless, refined, professional, everything her butler was, expect that he wouldn't have ever thought of leaving Phoebe's employ ever since his creation. The heiress to the Hemsworth's fortune had to grant Marquis his reason for leaving was sensible enough, though. Seeing your boss wanted to rewrite your whole personality could be quite jarring, she supposed.

She was actually grateful for this course of action, however. Marquis not being her butler anymore, it meant he had no right to come inside the engineering bay to perform any task for Phoebe, a point the young woman hastily pointed to Nova once she realized it. It meant her project was safe from his possible depreciations, and once she was done, she could proceed to the reboot, and everything would be just as it was before.

Focusing on the task at hand, she filed through the copious amount of logs she was seeing on her computer, a datapad not being powerful enough to handle such a huge amount of data, looking for any file who held some semblance of the Marquis she had known in her youth.

Today, the hunt was unsuccessful. She only found out files hailing from the time Marquis was just out of the factory, performing the basic tests all Magnuses did before being released to the market, when they were still fabricated _en masse_. She also found out a record of Marquis with her father, but it proved uninteresting, Marquis not displaying any personality proper in this one. She sighed, the inventor prepared to call it a day and go test this new move in the training field, doing one last search out of professional consciousness.

 _Wait. There._

She saw it. A record dating from the time Marquis was still her caretaker.

"Galaxies" muttered the Hemsworth heiress, "How old was I when this record was made? Eight? Nine?"

She opened it, preparing herself for whatever Marquis' past could reveal her.

 _"_ _Good morning, Markee!"_

 _"_ _Good morning, young mistress. I hope you have slept well?"_

She could have recognized her butler's accent anywhere, the German tone unmistakable.

 _"_ _Yeah! I had a weird dream with the Varelsee and their portals, and they were trying to take Daddy and Mommy, and me, but then, Hoodini went in and pecked them in the face! And then, you arrived, and you killed all the Varelsee, and you served tea, and then I don't remember, but it's alright because that was the best dream ever! I wasn't even afraid!"_

Phoebe winced at her pronunciation of the word Varelsi, having forgotten her forte while young had been physics and not linguistic. She heard the laugh of her butler next, a calm, relaxing, comforting laugh, not the maniacal one she was used to since the Magna Carta went off.

 _"_ _My my,_ fraulein _Hemsworth, it appears even in your dreams you are quite the brave little girl!"_

 _"_ _I'm not a little girl, Markee, I'm eight! I'm a grown-up!"_

 _"_ _My sincerest apologies, milady. I didn't mean to offense you."_

 _"_ _Nah, it's fine. You're just so used to protect me, you have trouble of thinking of me as anything else."_

 _"_ _But still, I must apologize properly. Oh, I know the most splendid idea: Hoodini and I passed by a wonderful little lake we didn't know about, yesterday. How about we pack a copious breakfast for you and eat it there, young mistress?"_

 _"_ _Yeah! Your breakfasts are the best, Markee! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"_

 _"_ Bitte sehr, fraulein _. I live to serve, after all."_

 _"_ _Oh, Markee, can we take Daddy with us? Please, pretty please?"_

Phoebe only heard silence, and she knew she was going to hear again another disappointment concerning her now deceased father.

 _"…_ _My apologies, young mistress. Lord Hemsworth is quite busy, today, and I am afraid we are not to disturb him."_

The audio file stayed silent for a moment.

 _"…_ _Young mistress?"_

 _"…_ _It's not fair…"_

 _"_ _Mistress, are you… Are you crying? Oh, no, no, I'm dreadfully sorry, young miss, it wasn't my intention to make you cry! Oh, look, Hoodini is out! He wants to say hello, doesn't he, the small chap?"_

 _"_ _Why does he never have time for me? Why, Markee?"_

Phoebe heard her younger self cry, quietly sobbing, and she found out her eyes were wetting a bot as well, though not for the exact same reasons. She heard her butler sigh through the log, and beginning to talk again.

 _"…_ _Your father is a very busy man, young mistress. But even though he doesn't have time for you, he still loves you very much, and you are the one thing on his mind."_

 _"_ _How can you know that, Markee? He's almost never here with me, it's always just me, you and Hoodini! Why can't we be a family?"_

 _"_ _I believe I may have an answer. Let me tell you a story, my young lady, if it is quite alright with you, of course?"_

 _"…_ _Please, Markee, tell me."_

 _"_ _You may know I am a Magnus,_ ja _?"_

Phoebe could only interpret the small moment of silence as her younger self nodding.

 _"_ _Your father supervised long ago the creation of a new Magnus. He had very specific instructions in mind, and wouldn't stop contacting his employees to bring last minute modifications. All Magnuses are made with lot of care in their conception, despite the relative mystery enshrouding us, but your father went beyond that, spend almost all of his time for months on this specific Magnus. He said this Magnus was the most important thing to ever be built in his company."_

 _"_ _It must have been a very important Magnus then!"_

 _"_ _Indeed, he was, as the Magnus was programmed a man. A gentleman, even, of the finest class. When the Magnus was finally created, he passed all the tests flawlessly. He was functioning perfectly, not a single default in view. Yet, your father is a demanding man, and wasn't satisfied yet. And so, he told the Magnus that perfection wasn't enough for the mission he wanted the Magnus to complete. He wanted perfection not from a machine, but from a_ being _. A living, thinking being. And yet, no such being could be found. So your father told the Magnus how to feel."_

Phoebe heard her younger self gasp, and she, as well, found herself enraptured by the story Marquis was telling, especially since she was basically hearing the story of an IA becoming sentient, which was something even she wasn't knowledgeable enough on.

 _"_ _For the mission of the Magnus required him to feel, to act perfectly but think humanly. This Magnus wasn't made to be a supervisor, or a soldier, or a guard. He was made to be a companion, a friend, a caretaker. Because your father needed that for you, young mistress."_

 _"_ _He needed that… for me? I don't understand, Markee."_

 _"_ _Your father realized that, after your mother's death, he wouldn't be able to provide for you and care for you at the same time. So, he took a risk, and decided to make this Magnus a person. To give it a name. An identity. To mold him into your protector and your caretaker at once. It was something no one ever dared to do before, to give such autonomy to an IA just out of the fabrication chain._

 _Your father named him Marquis."_

 _"_ _But… that means_ you're _the Magnus of the story, Markee!"_

 _"_ _Indeed I am, milady. I know your father loves you more than anything, as I have been created because of this love, and tasked to act when he could not, to raise you in the way he can not. I will be forever grateful to him to have given me a life, and to you, as well, for making it worth living. I am yours until as long as you deem fit, Lady Phoebe, as your father willed it."_

The file ended that way.

Phoebe didn't know what to think. Her problems have always been rational in nature: one problem always had one solution. But this time, the inventor was put into something she didn't fully comprehend. She was dealing with feelings, hers, Marquis', and even her father's, indirectly.

She realized she just couldn't arrive and upload Marquis' old memories in his personality core. What she heard proved that Marquis was no mere machine, something which, to her shame, she had indeed thought about him recently. She had let the war tarnish her view of him, and that was what had pushed him to demission.

"For all my so called genius" she said out loud, "I can really be an idiot."

"You know what they say, admitting it is the hardest part."

Phoebe let out a surprised yell, turning around to see Kleese standing over her, nonchalantly holding his hands behind his back.

"Kleese!" said she after recovering, "What in the Magna Carta's name are you doing here?"

"Last time I verified, I _did_ have my desk in this room. And let's just say I was curious about what you were doing with logs from your butler's memory core. Not your usual subject of study, dare I say."

"I don't remember you letting me look at what you were doing in your laboratory, Kleese."

"I don't remember seeing you so desperately needing help, Phoebe."

Phoebe was fuming. How dare this old coot disrespect her and her privacy, call her by her first name when he only deigned using nicknames like Miss Snot-Nose, and ridicule her!

"I believe that's quite enough, Kleese. If you could kindly get out of my personal space before I stab you _repeatedly_ , it would be much appreciated. Because I am _not_ in the mood to deal with your petty, child-like, constant belittlement of others, as I have much more pressing problems to deal with. Thank. You."

To his credit, the old scientist didn't even step back from Phoebe's verbal assault. Once he was sure she was finished, he replied.

"Let me reformulate: I _want_ to help you with whatever your problem with Marquis is at the moment."

That made Phoebe go from angry to completely flabbergasted. Kleese? Willingly offering help? Without any form of payment in return?

" _You_ are offering your help to me? Willingly? Freely?" asked she in complete and utter disbelief.

"Yes" replied simply Kleese.

"Who are you and what did you do to Kleese?" asked Phoebe, still not believing her current situation.

"In case you didn't know, I happen to have a heart, and seeing you in a situation that happened to me…"

The old scientist sighed wistfully, apparently reminiscing about older days.

"…Let's just say jealousy can only take one so far. We may not have seen eye to eye before, but with Rendain gone, our survival chances have dramatically increased, and seeing I will spend time with you all in the foreseeable future, and the fact I actually happen to enjoy the company of our little band of misfits, I don't want it to fall apart. Hence, my help."

Phoebe had to process too much things at once. Kleese had been envious of her? He wanted to be nice to the other Battleborn? He _liked_ being here?

"Oh, golly, it appears I have broken you, Miss Hemsworth. Is it that shocking to see me trying to be genuinely nice?"

"Yes" replied Phoebe.

"Meh, I guessed I probably deserve it" said Kleese while shrugging. "So… What exactly happened between you and Marquis?"

As surreal as the situation seemed to her, Phoebe disclosed everything about her project of restoring Marquis' memories, and surprisingly, Kleese offered valuable criticism about the whole ordeal. Though the real shock came when he departed from the room, giving his final piece of advice.

"If you want me, I can look into Minion Robotics files to help you in this ordeal, but I would advise you to actually talk to Marquis."

"What? Talk to him? I plan to rewrite his memory core. I doubt he would listen to me."

"You probably should try. I tried reprogramming ISIC the same way you are trying to do with Marquis, back when the Magna Carta just went offline, and it only made things worse. We must accept the Magnuses as being their own masters now, and that means you should try to compromise with Marquis instead of playing at god and possibly locking him into a sociopathic state. Have a nice day."

And with that, the old scientist left the room, leaving Phoebe alone and lost in her thoughts. The heiress came back to her terminal, looking at the amount of files she had managed to retrieve. With those, she could try to reprogram Marquis. Her chance of success was small, but meaningful.

 _Should I try? Should I really treat him that way?_

Phoebe sat in front of her computer for quite some time, pondering the ins and outs of her options, before she finally decided for a set course of action. She opened a new window on her screen, displaying a new message.

 _Do you want to erase 4,697 files?_

 _Yes? / No?_

She clicked on the yes, and watched as hours and hours of work descended into the abyss of deleted files, and took out her datapad. Opening her mail, she choose one specific message, and scrolled down directly at the end.

 _Do you want to join the official therapy service for the Battleborn?_

 _Yes? / No?_


	10. Chapter 9 : Rath : Reasons to fight

**Hello everyone, Darren Xirias here, in what is probably one of my favorite chapters so far :) I had a real blast writing it, and I sure hope you will have one reading it.**

 **It is quite long, but that's because I had to set up the next chapter, which will be the great battle scene I promised you. Am I awesome? I am. No need to thank me.**

 **Seriously, though, I am once again surprised to see so much support for this fic. I need to thank you once again for your kind comments, they really mean a lot to me. I know I say this each chapter, but I can't help it, you guys are awesome !**

 **I'm going to change things a little bit though: there will be another AN at the end of the chapter, to discuss what will happen in the next chapter, and probably the ones after that. It will depend.**

 **Either way, read this chapter, which is about Rath and his two unlikely friends, among other things, and meet me at the end!**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Rath: Reasons to fight_

Verod Rath was a man you could call boastful. While true, this statement didn't deter the fact that the Jennerit swordsman could back up his claims easily.

Keeper of the Blade, one of the Empress' own personal guard, he had murdered his twenty colleagues, renowned to be the best swordsmen in the universe, after vowing revenge against Rendain.

Rath was a prodigy of the blade, and even now, in the dull light of the training room, as sword clashes against sword, and his sparring partner's shield is yanked away by a powerful strike, this fact is evident. Where a mere man would use one blade, Rath uses three. Where a mere man would have trouble standing up with only one in hand, Rath ran and dodged and jumped and _danced_. Where a soldier would bother with some kind of protection, like a shield or armor or even an emergency escape plan, Rath did not. He didn't need to.

Some thought him crazy. And others broken. A mindless hound thrown on the Battleborn's enemies, hoping he would one day die in battle to spare them the headache. His companions just thought him special, and left it at that, for which the Jennerit was grateful, though he would never admit it in front of someone else. But very few understood him, truly understood him.

Despite initial tension between them two, Caldarius probably understood him the best. Rath had never seen who the Kemessian was behind the armor, and he thought he would never know. In fact he didn't know what a Kemessian looked like. But it was Caladarius' wish to remain unseen, and so Rath respected that wish. It didn't matter, though. What Caldarius and Rath shared was a love for fighting. Not the barbaric brawls they had to partake in for the sake of the last star's survival, no, it was _fighting_ they loved. The thrill of facing an opponent of equal skill, of adapting to forever changing enemy tactics, to sharpen yours, and to duel until only the last one stood, dancing a ballet of measured violence and wrath tempered by a tactical mind and a mastery of the art.

Some of the Battleborn hated fighting, only doing so because they felt they had no other choice. Others did so because they knew nothing else, to survive. Others did so because they set off to right what was once wrong, using the fight as a tool to fulfill their quest for vengeance. Others, again, fought not because they loved the fight but the result of it, and those sickened Rath.

Rath never felt more alive than when he was _challenged_ , and Caldarius was the same. Boldur was like that, but his philosophical, jolly and nature-loving nature put too much between them to really connect, though Rath had to admit he probably was the deadliest old man (or dwarf) with an axe left in the universe. El Dragon, similarly, was too flamboyant to really connect with the taciturn Jennerit warriors on that point.

All in all, he only knew one other person that loved the thrill of the fight as the two did. And surprisingly enough, it wasn't another Jennerit.

Galilea Azmodeus.

The Wraith's Shadowcry had performed a faint, which would have grazed his right shoulder had he not used Axiom to parry at the last moment. Alas, that left him vulnerable to a shield bash from the armor-clad woman. Rath took the hit in the head, and staggered. He knew she had won even before she let her greatsword slid over his throat.

"Though luck, Verod."

Rath graciously accepted defeat, and released his grip on his two blades in hand, cementing his defeat. Galilea sheathed back her sword, and placed her shield on her shoulders.

"Thirty-five seconds" came Caldarius' voice from the sidelines. What had been a routine between the two of them became a matter of three. They rotated to ensure everyone had a fair share of training, and this allowed the Battleborn left out of the duel to observe and analyze the strategies and moves used. Though it wasn't the duration of the fight Caldarius just said.

"You managed to keep your corruption in check longer and longer since we began. You still can't control when to let it out to take advantage of it, though."

"Yes" replied the Wraith. "It is bothersome."

Galilea loved fighting. It was her reason to live, just like for the two Jennerit. But unlike Rath and Caldarius, who did so by choice, Galilea, despite treating fighting as an art, was that way by necessity. The dark entity inside her wanted violence, and the Wraith had to keep it fed, lest it unleashes its wrath upon the innocent.

Rath would have never thought to find a woman of such caliber inside the louts of the UPR, of all things, but his opinion changed quickly enough, enough for him to actually repair her blade after a mission gone wrong, and acknowledge her as a warrior of true skill and honor. Over time, he had come to understand not everyone fought the same way as them, but that didn't stop them to be honorable in their own ways, and the swordsman now considered almost all of the Battleborn as equals, especially after the Heliophage. But Galilea still was the one he and Caladarius had found the most things in common.

"It was a good fight. You are using your footwork more efficiently, and it shows, Galilea."

"Thank you Verod. Though I'm still worried about my inability to keep that _thing_ in check."

"You are making progress" stated Caldarius. "Even if it proves unmanageable, you can still keep it at bay long enough to prevent it hurting anyone you don't want to."

"Indeed" replied the immortal woman. "And I believe sparring with you two helped me focus and improve my technique. I thank you."

"Minions hardly are decent training partners" chuckled Rath. "It would have been a shame on our warrior's honor to let your talent wither away."

"More like you wanted to not get grounded into the ground too many times anymore, my friend" snarked Caldarius. The shock trooper was no match in blade-to-blade combat against Rath. Which was why he never used his Energy Blade only, but his PMT and grenades as well, for ensuring Rath had not an unfair advantage. Caldarius being able to fly seriously impended Rath's chances, though. But the swordsman didn't mind.

"Ha! If you stopped fleeing in the airs like a craven each time I swiped Axiom and Praxis, it would be you I would grind in the ground, Caldarius!"

"But he would be foolish to not use every tool at his disposal, Rath" countered Galilea. "And I'm sure you could have hit him with Precept once or twice since the beginning of the campaign, at the least. You are going soft on him."

"He was imprisoned for centuries. Of course I am going soft, he _is_ rusty, after all."

"I would gladly test that claim right now, Verod" said menacingly Caldarius, while pointing at the training field they just left. "Unless you are afraid of being cut by a rusted blade?"

" _While it would be fun to watch you try to kill each once again_ " rang Nova's voice in the room through the com system, " _other Battleborn need to practice too. And your reservation time is up in one minute and twenty-six seconds and counting, so, get out here, or else I send in ISIC._ "

Although the three warriors were brave, they were not suicidal, and getting in front of ISIC and his daily dose of slaughter was a good way to get killed. They quickly went out of the room, and thankfully didn't meet the crazy Magnus.

The trio decided to drop their weapons and their armor (except Caldarius') at the armory, seeing they wouldn't need them in the foreseeable future, and after that simply spend time in each other's company like a band of friends, despite their reluctance of calling each other such.

"So" began Caldarius on the way to the armory. "Rath. Did you recently came back on Tempest?"

"Alas, no" lamented the Jennerit swordsman. "Ever since the Heliophage, I haven't been able to secure a shuttle towards the capital."

"You needed to go back to the Keeper's headquarters, right?" asked Galilea.

"Indeed. I believe the traitorous bunch may have hid information on Lenore's disappearance there. Some of them knew before I confronted them, and Deande believes Rendain gave all of his lieutenants parts of the truth. Even she doesn't know all the details, and she was his right hand."

"But you had ample time to visit even before the Heliophage" wondered Galilea. "What stopped you?"

"Only a Keeper can enter the inner sanctum, but Rendain didn't hesitate in posting a small army to be on guard duty around the rest of the building. There was no tactical advantage to be gained by breaking in simply on assumptions, and no one alone is the match of a whole Jennerit regiment."

"I beg to differ."

"Caldarius, you destroyed their destroyer while in mid-air. You didn't _fight_ them. It doesn't count."

"Keep telling yourself that. Killjoy."

"Anyways" resumed the swordsman, "I had better things to do. Like driving my swords down the traitor's flesh."

"But now, he's lost in the Void" concluded Galilea. "Which means you can go back, and finish whatever the Keepers began."

"But the only time we flew near the Keepers' temple after Rendain's demise, I was assigned to go stop the Varelsi incursion in the slums that day."

"I see" simply said Galilea.

The trio arrived in front of the armory, and entered to dispose of their gear. Upon doing so, they saw the marks of Benedict's bout of madness of the night before.

"By the way" asked Rath, "how is the Hawk-Man?"

"I wouldn't really know" Galilea shrugged. "I became close to the UPR in my time here, but Benedict is the odd one out. He never tried to really bond with the others."

She looked at the blast marks on the walls and the ground.

"And now we know why."

"I believe Deande managed to get through him, though" said Caldarius. "I saw him sitting with the lumberjack and the clone at breakfast."

"Excuse me?" asked Galilea. "He sat with Montana and Mike? Willingly?"

"He was laughing. With them, not at them."

"...Your spymistress is scary."

"I am quite glad we are on the same side, yes" replied Caldarius. "I have to thank you for convincing me not to murder her, Verod."

"What she did, she did to gain Rendain's trust, before orchestrating his downfall. Without her, we would have been too late to stop the tyrant."

"Now, I know that."

The trio went silent, and they left the armory, Rath and Galilea having changed into their normal clothes that were hidden under their armor, a black shirt and pants for Rath, standard clothing issued for Jennerit soldiers; and the standard UPR casual clothing consisted of a dark-green shirt and brown cargo pants for Galilea. Caldarius, ever the mysterious soldier, stayed armored.

"What a strange world we live in" mused Caldarius. "Not a year ago, we would have all been mortal enemies. And yet, we manage to work together despite our... enmities. I thought at first you were all part of Hylis' strike team, and that Deande was here to bring me back to Rendain herself, even."

"You escaped Tempest just before Deande's coup, didn't you?" asked Rath.

"To think I would have avoided Hylis entirely had I waited a day. At least I got to kill him personally."

"What exactly did Hylis do, to earn such hate from you?" asked Galilea, confused.

"He and his colleagues put me into jail the exact moment after I became Eternal, with my armor on, for one _thousand_ years." spat the Kemessian. "They put me in solitary confinement, forbid me to wash, made me eat the barest possible, kept torturing me, locked me with a damn recorder I _fell in love_ with because it was the only thing that liked me because it replayed my own voice, and they laughed at it all! I even forgot my OWN F*****G FACE!"

Caldarius suddenly realized he had been shouting, given that Rath and Galilea both took one careful step back. And that they saw Toby running outside the hallway. And El Dragon too. The last one in tears.

"Sorry" apologized Caldarius, calm once again. "Speaking of my millennial jail time tends to make me want to murder hundreds of cute puppies with my bare hands."

"...Please warn us next time you do that" carefully said Galilea.

"I will try. At least, ever since I killed Hylis, and I participated in Rendain's fall, the anger became tolerable."

"You still seem angry about it all, though."

"Of course Verod. Just like you finally found peace once all the Keepers were dead, I will find mine once all my jailers are dead.

All one-thousand three hundred fifty-six of them. One. By. One."

"Somehow, the fact, you pulled out your Energy Blade repeatedly manages to convince me this isn't healthy" deadpanned Galilea.

"Of course it isn't" deadpanned Caldarius. "But I manage."

"Caldarius" inhaled Rath, "maybe you should ask for Deande to help with that."

"Not a chance" replied the Kemessian. "I will handle this alone."

"Caldarius" tried to reason Rath, but the shock trooper beat him.

"No, Rath. I survived a thousand years in isolation, I will survive the aftermath. Do not insist."

"Vengeance can only carry you so far, Caldarius."

"Huh" scoffed the Kemessian, "that's rich coming from you. Vengeance is your only goal, too."

" _Was_. And I realized my vengeance was hollow. Killing Rendain didn't fulfill me, it just made me feel... hollow."

"I already said it, and I will say it again, Verod. You lost your empress and your order to Rendain. I lost my identity, my sanity, my reason to be, to him. You cannot compare. While I respect the cause of the Battleborn, and every one of you, I fight for my vengeance. I will stop when each and every one of my targets is dead, and not a moment before. The Universe can die as long as I'm the only one concerned, so long I get to _them_ first."

He activated his thrusters, and left the other two warriors, ending the conversation that way. Rath only sighed, shaking his head a little.

"You did your best, Verod" tried to comfort Galilea. "One day, he will realize vengeance isn't everything."

"I don't worry about his ability to understand that" said the swordsman. "I worry that he may die in battle before that moment. As talented as he is, no one can fight forever. Especially not against yourself."

"Talking from experience?"

"Indeed. After Rendain's death, I felt nothing. Nothing at all. The tyrant was dead, banished into the Void, and I felt nothing. No joy, no anger, no sadness..."

The Jennerit looked the UPR soldier in the eyes.

"It scared me. I didn't know what to do. What I _could_ do. Without an empress to protect, and without my quest for vengeance, I was nothing."

"Yet something changed, seeing you still fight with us."

"Deande made me understand that there were other causes worth fighting for. I fight to restore the Empire to its former glory, as little as I can in a single star system. Now I know that's what my empress would have wanted for me."

Galilea smiled at him, a wistful, sad smile.

"It seems a cause worth fighting for."

"It is."

The two sword masters continued walking towards the mess hall, seeing as it was the go-to place for anyone on the ship with some time to spare.

"Tell me, Galilea" asked Rath after a small moment of silence, "you never told me why you fight. What pushed you to join the UPR? I would have thought you to be part of the Eldrid, actually."

Galilea's face darkened, the question obviously raising bad memories.

"Ghalt found me at my lowest" simply said the purple-skinned woman. "He gave me a chance to atone for my past mistakes, and we will leave it at that."

"Past mistakes? You always have been the Wraith of Bliss, though, no?"

"I have been a lot of things, Rath."

"Galilea..." began Rath, doubt beginning to claw its way into its head, "how old are you?"

"In Helician years or standard years?"

"Standard."

"I am more than one thousand years old."

Rath recoiled a bit from the shock, though he would lie were he to say he didn't guess Galilea's age was far more than what appeared at first view.

"But then... Even Helicians don't live past eight hundred years without Sustainment..."

It all clicked in Rath's mind.

"You were Ambra's friend. The one that tried to sabotage the Sustainment engine."

"Indeed" sighed the armor-clad woman. "I had hope you wouldn't know. But it is not my story to tell. Ambra was the one wronged, and it should be her speaking."

Galilea's tone indicated that she wouldn't take no for an answer from Rath.

"Very well" agreed the swordsman, "I will not inquire further."

"Thank you, Rath. It means a lot to me."

"Though I will pry the knowledge out of you if you ever are hurt by it, my friend. You can count on it."

"Of course" laughed the armor-clad woman. "You are too stubborn to admit defeat so easily, aren't you?"

"It is not defeat. Merely a tactical withdrawal."

"I thought I heard Foxtrot speaking. Not exactly the kind of honorable warrior you admire, usually."

"But he is still alive. And I have to admit, he is actually talented with that combat knife of his."

"You want to spar with him one day?"

"Oh, no, no" quickly corrected Rath, "Deande would never let me rough up her lover. I am brave, not suicidal."

The two laughed at that, a surprising and rare sight on a ship whom the crew became more and more tired and weary by the day.

They arrived in the mess hall on that note, where they were surprised to see almost all of the Battleborn sitting here chatting amongst each other. Even Marquis and ISIC were here, the only ones absent being Miko and Aurox, for understandable reasons, as well the Captain, which was more surprising, as the rest of high command was here. Shayne was sitting with Reyna, the Rogue leader trying her best to cheer the teenager up.

Caldarius was standing in a corner, nodding at the two as they entered the room. Apparently, he held no ill feelings towards Rath for their earlier conversation. At a table were sitting the three UPR commandos, Mike noticed Galilea, and waved at her. Orendi and ISIC were apparently busy trying to discuss the best way to disembowel someone, while Attikus and Kelvin were talking about philosophy of all things, and Kleese and Deande were having a conversation the two warriors understood next to nothing about, full of technobabble. El Dragon, for his part, appeared to have recovered from his crying crisis quite well, and was busy doing push-ups.

Surprisingly, everyone appeared to be in a good mood, the only exceptions being Marquis, Phoebe, Melka and Boldur. Even Shayne was laughing with the rest of her group, and Benedict appeared to at least not being lost in self-loathing anymore. The tensions in the Battleborn, for the first time in months, appeared to have regressed to a tolerable level.

"Hey, Gal!" shouted Oscar once the two sword masters joined his table. "You excited for the new recruit?"

Galilea's face frowned, not understanding what the clone soldier meant by this statement.

"Uh, sorry Mike. You just talked about a new recruit?"

"Uh, yeah? The Captain sent a message through the speakers, told us we were flying towards her location. He wanted to do a video call, presenting us all proper, and all that jazz."

"We must have missed it while training, then" replied Rath.

"You're still training with the vampire, Gal?" asked the clone. "Are you sure you're not under a possession spell or something?"

Rath could swore he heard a collective facepalm, though that must have been his imagination, as he was busy replying to Mike. Loudly.

"For the last time, you dim-witted, backwater idiot, I AM NOT A F*****G VAMPIRE!"

Everyone in the room collectively groaned, as they understood by the shout that Mike had angered Rath by calling him a vampire. Again.

"Seriously" groaned Thorn. "I made that mistake for only three days after joining."

"Oh, come on, not again!" complained Foxtrot.

"Who DARED to call us blood-sucking PARASITES again ?!" yelled a furious Ambra.

The common complaint was short-lived, but still managed to leave Oscar Mike sheepishly apologizing.

"Uh... Sorry vampire guy?"

"Oh, Empress... I give up. Yes I am a vampire, yes I suck blood, yes I have Galilea under my thrall, and yes I burn when you make me touch silver."

"AH!" shouted the clone soldier. "I knew it! I was right guys! I was right!"

"Mike" sighed Montana, "I think he might have been sarcastic, here."

"What gave it away?" deadpanned Caldarius, who joined the conversation.

"I still hesitate between the tone or his face" intervened Benedict. "Or both. I dunno, he looked so tired at that moment, I think I might be beginning to think that himself, ya know?"

"This stuff is so complicated, and s**t" said Mike. "Is he a vampire or not?"

"No, Mike, he is not" said Galilea, saving the group a very strong headache.

"So. Back on track" said Rath, hoping to escape this whole vampire nonsense. "This new recruit. Any idea who might she be?"

"Nope" said Montana, "just that she is part of the Eldrid, and that she is in the Detritus Ring, on some lost asteroid base. Apparently, there were refugees from Tempest there and she went to help."

"A healer?" asked Galilea. "If that is the case, this is great news. We only have so many support Battleborn, and only one of them is a real doctor. If she has some knowledge of medicine, her help will be invaluable."

"I dunno" said Mike, "Captain didn't say anything else."

"Here he is, though" said Benedict. Indeed, Ghalt just entered the room. "We will know soon enough, guys."

Ghalt climbed up a table, and loudly cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone, as you know, we have received for quite some time some interesting profiles that might join the Battleborn, and I have the pleasure to tell you today that we officially have a 26th member!"

The whole room cheered, the good news lifting the mood even more. With the fight against the Varelsi not stopping any time soon, they needed every help they could get.

"So, long story short guys" said Ghalt while trying to quiet the room. "Her name is Alani, she answers to the Eldrid Conservatory, she is a healer from a darkened water world and has some kind of control over water, and is apparently no slouch in combat either. Aside from that, I don't know a lot, expect that she is going to be invaluable to us. She will be the only real medic besides Miko on this ship, and we all know the mushroom needs all the help he...she...it can."

No one thought to call out the Captain's hesitation regarding Miko's gender, as it was a mistake everyone could still make.

"And with such a reduced crew, although we all pull our weight more than entire regiments-that Rendain can attest to-every new member is a real boon. Right now, we're flying towards the Selenite R-26 asteroid fort, a derelict shard pirates' base in the Ring that houses several refugees from Rendain's purge of the Jennerit middle-class. Our new member is helping them recover right now, and she basically asked us to house them somewhere on Bliss or Tempest now that Rendain is dead, in exchange for her help. A frigate commander from the UPR agreed to lend a hand, so our mission today is to ensure everything goes fine. But enough with all this mission briefing, allow me to present you Alani! Kleese, when you're ready."

The old scientist proceeded to jack up two cables, and like that, a holographic screen appeared in the wall, opposite to where the Battleborn were. Said screen soon went from black to displaying a live feed of a rusty storage room, with a living being obstructing the view of said room.

The woman, as the being was undoubtedly female, was pale blue of skin, and had long, dark blue hair. Two red flowers hang at each side of her head, and strange tattoos lined up her face and body. She wore a simple apparel of a white tank-top and a white pair of pants, with a red piece of cloth hanging from them, and black lace-less shoes.

The woman realized she was a bit too far away from the screen, and advanced, trying to hide her lack of knowledge about technological devices.

"Hi, everyone!" greeted she across the communication. "I'm Alani. Nice to meet you all!"

The whole room shouted a reply, expect for two people. In the corner of his eyes, Rath saw Ambra stiffening, as if the woman at the screen somehow reminded her painful memories. Turning around, he also saw Galilea frozen in place, trembling.

"Rath. She is an Helician. She's from my species. There's another survivor."

The weight of this revelation dawned on Rath, but he couldn't ask more of Galilea as Alani resumed talking.

"Wow, you weren't lying when you said there were a lot of different people in your team, Mr Ghalt! There's even a Thrall! How did you manage to convince a Thrall to join you? And, omahgosh is that Whiskey Foxtrot? As in, the Legendary Whiskey Foxtrot the Renegade Clone?"

"Told ya I was a celebrity, Melka! You owe me twenty creds!"

"Ancestors damn it" said the Eldrid mercenary while handing out said credits. "I thought you were drunk when you bet that one."

"There's just so many different people!" rejoiced Alani, carrying on. "This is so exciting! Now I know I made the right decision to join you all!"

"Speaking of that" said Ghalt, making the conversation go back on track, "we're about ten minutes away from the Selenite. How are things on your side, Alani?"

"Oh, pretty good" replied she, still smiling. "The refugees are almost all there, only some of them disappeared, and that was during the shuttle flight, if I understood correctly. No shard pirates attacks ever since we came here, and our stockpile of provisions is big enough to allow them to eat until the arrival on Bliss."

"Change of plans" said the Captain, "they're going back to Tempest."

"What? But, I thought Rendain..."

"Well, if you didn't know, then, I got some good news for you and your friends, Alani. We took care of Rendain two weeks ago. Permanently."

Alani's face lit up at the news, and she excitedly shouted it at the refugees behind her. Soon, a roaring ovation could be heard across the com.

"I haven't seen them smile that much ever since I came here!" laughed Alani, turning back to the screen. "They will finally be able to come back home!"

"An UPR frigate is on its way, just behind us" added Ghalt. "They will transport the refugees. Until we all arrive, why don't you present yourself to the crew, huh?"

"Well, alrighty then" said the Helician. "My name is Alani, I come from the now disappeared planet of Akopos, a freshwater wor- hold on, it seems I have a double-call."

Now that was strange, mused Rath. Who would have the bad luck to call a derelict's station com channel at the same time than the Battleborn?

"Weird" muttered Ghalt. "Who are they?"

"The terminal says 'hidden number'. Is that normal?"

Reyna slowly went up, her face turning pale.

"Galaxies, of all the times..." muttered she. "Ghalt" said she in a louder voice, "tell me the name of the asteroid, again?"

"Selenite R-26, why do you ask? Is there a problem, Reyna?"

Meanwhile, Alani was busy on the other side of the screen trying to answer the new caller, having some difficulty doing so.

"Nova" asked the Rogue leader, "what are the asteroid's coordinates?"

" _Selenite R-26 is in the fourth parsec of the Gamma quadrant of the Ring, exact coordinates are .16, Miss Valeria_ " replied the Magnus.

Reyna's face visibly paled, and when she talked again, her voice held a hint of worry not often heard in the Valkyrie's tone.

"Trevor" said she, dropping the formalities, "we need to reach this asteroid. _Now_."

"Ah! Here it is!" rang Alani's voice across the screen. "Hello, Mr?"

"Took you long enough, fish-woman" rang a gruff and slightly drunk voice none of the Battleborn knew. Expect Reyna.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, we don't need this right now" whispered she in a panicked tone. The other Rogues were looking at her, worried, not used to their leader losing her cool.

"Hey! That's rude, sir! I am a Helician, thank you very much!" replied Alani to the man.

"Listen, fish-woman" said the other man, "I know you're online with the Battleborn right now, and that means you're talking to Valeria. Either you're letting me speak to her, or I am dropping an orbital strike on you and your refugees. Your call."

Alani's face paled, and she shakily pressed a button on her screen, allowing the Battleborn to finally see who was making Reyna panicked.

The face of white-skinned man, with a heavy brown beard and completely bald, appeared on the screen. His eyes were shining with murderous intent, and he wore a ragged UPR soldier uniform, not unlike Foxtrot's, though with less skin revealed.

"Callum" said Reyna in the best commanding voice she could muster. "To what I owe the displeasure?"

"Valeria" answered said Callum, "I thought I told you last time Selenite was mine. Didn't the hole in the _Fortune's Favor_ serve as a good warning?"

"Suck it up, you ape" snarked back the Valkyrie, "we don't want your piss-poor asteroid, we want the people inside it. As the official leader of the Rogues, appointed by the Ring's Assembly, I am in my right to pass."

"You are" replied Callum. "The same doesn't apply to your friends here."

He gestured at the Battleborn besides her.

"UPR soldiers. LLC technocrats and robots. Jennerit abominations. Eldrid exiles. Last time I checked, we all had a bone to pick with all of those groups, and so did you."

"We will be free to resume our cordial enmity once the Varelsi are gone. Right now, I need to evacuate the people inside a base you haven't even used for years. Surely, you can understand this doesn't mine your authority at all, so let us pass."

"No."

Reyna slammed her fists on the nearest table.

"Callum MacErwan! You are beginning to make me angry, and trust me you do not want that."

"They didn't pay the right of passage. And so did you, actually. Give me one thousand credits for each and every people on your two ships and in the base, and I let you go."

Kleese fainted from hearing such a colossal amount of money.

"Like hell we will!" replied Reyna. "We need money to buy us food, fuel and ammunition, you moron! We are the only thing standing between you and the Varelsi, and you want to piss me off?"

"Reyna, we both know we hate each other" mirthlessly laughed Callum. "So, please, just humor me, and either pay or get lost."

"You know you can't stop us if we try to break in."

"But what about your poor little refugees? Are you sure you will reach them before it's too late?"

Everyone in the mess hall bleached, expect Kleese who was still unconscious.

"You cannot be serious" muttered Reyna.

"I am, Valeria" replied Callum, smiling cruelly. "So, if you don't want to pay, just get the f**k off my space, and maybe I will let them work for me. Or sell them to the Lorrians. Better than what I could do to them with napalm grenades. You have five minutes."

The pirate lord's face disappeared from the screen. Everyone in the mess hall was silent, aghast at the downright psychopathic threat Callum just made. Kleese woke up in complete silence.

"Guys?" said Alani after a time, breaking the silence.

Ghalt and Reyna looked up to the screen, and saw a completely different person than the Alani from before. A new light shone through her eyes, and her mouth was closed in a hard line.

"This man needs to die" said she. It wasn't a question.

"I like you already" said Reyna, her joke not backed up by her tone.

"I can lock up everyone inside a lone hangar, and guard the entrance. As long as they don't try to blow up the fort, I can hold my ground alone for about half-an-hour, before I have to restore my connection to water."

"Then, we will have to reach you in less than half-an-hour" affirmed Ghalt. "But they probably set up a blockade."

"Allow me to help, then" said Caldarius in an icy tone. "My assault frame can operate in space as well as on the ground. And I find myself increasingly wanting to slice that man's neck."

The Jennerit shock trooper's reputation preceded him, and everyone in the Battleborn knew that Caldarius took down whole fleets in flight, though not by himself. Still, he was probably the best choice to send on this mission.

"Don't forget me, my friends!" said ISIC, to everyone's surprise. "I always wanted to test those new thrusters, and my plasma cannon works perfectly fine in space! Plus, I am a robot! I do not have lungs or temperature receptors to bother me in the middle of space!"

"ISIC" asked a bewildered Kleese, "you want to help us?"

"Space battles are the ones with the most people dying" replied the Magnus cheerfully, "and I must admit this Callum is now even higher on my list of people I want to kill than you, Kleese! I must meet him personally to congratulate him for this feat."

"Alright, guys" said Ghalt, "ISIC is right. If we're about to fight a pirate lord, we need every Battleborn that can work in space. ISIC, you're up too."

"Just the two of you won't be enough, though" added Reyna. "Callum has a private fleet of about fifteen ships. I know you're good, but you will need a full team."

"I volunteer" said Benedict while standing up. Ghalt shot him a strange look, as well as Reyna.

"Benedict?" asked the Captain. "You do know that, after yesterday..."

"If I can fly at ground level, I will fly in space with standard issue thrusters. My rockets can track targets even in space, and I'm already used to three-dimensional battle. I am a perfectly valid choice."

"Expect that you have a very nice tendency to pull the trigger on your teammates" cheerfully reminded ISIC.

The Hawk-Man swallowed once, twice, and resumed talking, not looking at the Magnus.

"I know I messed up. Hard. But I won't make amends by staying locked up in the ship, especially when the mission is practically made for me."

The first Battleborn drew a heavy sigh.

"Deande?" asked he. "I defer to you. Is Benedict apt to battle or not?"

"Physically, yes" replied the spymistress, speaking for the first time since the whole mess began. "Emotionally, I am tempted to say yes, but I can't be sure after only one session. He does have a point though, Ghalt. He is far better suited than other Battleborn for this mission."

"You know what?" interrupted Reyna, "F**k it. I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, Benedict."

Benedict let out a sigh of relief he didn't knew he was holding.

"Thank yo-"

"Let me be clear though" interrupted the Rogue leader. "I haven't forgotten what you did to Toby. I'll be going with you-"

"Reyna, you can't do that!" interrupted a worried Ghalt. "We can't afford to send you in the middle of a space battle! What happens if you die, and we lose the Rogues' support?"

"If I don't go in and settle the matter personally, my crew will be the only Rogues to support you, Trevor" replied the Valkyrie. "Callum spit at my authority, and you can bet everyone and their mother is waiting for my reaction. I need to remind them why I'm the boss. And my weapons are using plasma, so they will work in space."

She turned back to Benedict.

"As I was saying, I will be watching you, and you better behave and work with the team, rather than fly off on your own. We don't have time for your ego to screw things up, am I clear?"

"Crystal clear, M'am."

"Great. Now that makes four of us" said Reyna. "Let's hurry up, the refugees are in danger!"

" _Wait a minute, everyone_ " said Nova through the ship's com system. " _Our shuttle can embark one more Battleborn. Judging from the sick firepower the bald monkey is amassing near the fort, you would be better off with a team of five. Just saying_."

"I will go" said Galilea immediately, which made Rath go out of his torpor, which he didn't even realize he was in since the threat on the refugees had been dropped.

"Pardon me?" said the Jennerit. "You can't fight warships with a blade."

"But I can fight the Pirates that will no doubt land on the asteroid" replied the woman. "And Caldarius and Benedict will be at a disadvantage once we're _inside_ the fort. I will not. And you seem to forget I have something to use against the ships themselves."

"Are you sure Gal?" asked the Captain. "Rath is right, you will have a rough time if you don't use your dark powers out there. And we all know you don't want to use them too much."

"I am an Helician, Trevor" replied Galilea, eliciting a shocked gasp from Alani. "Alani is probably the last member of my species left in the universe that's not hiding, and I will not allow my race to suffer any longer."

"Very good then" said Ghalt. "Reyna, you're the squad leader for this mission. Deande, Kleese, Melka, with me at the command post. Alani? Good luck."

The monk nodded before cutting the call, just after alarms began sounding across the com.

"Come on, squad!" called the Valkyrie. "We got people to save and bastards to blow up!"

The five-man team moved out, but before they left, Rath caught up to both Caldarius and Galilea.

"May the Empress guide your blades, my friends."

"I never needed Lenore's help, nor did I receive it" replied the shock trooper. "But thank you Verod."

"You do not need to worry, Rath. We will succeed. I promise on my honor as a warrior."

"Then I am relieved" replied the Jennerit swordsman. "Fare thee well."

And like that, the squad was out of the room, running for the shuttle, and leaving the Battleborn not in mission to do their thing, worried sick for the most part of what could happen.

Verod Rath was a man you could call boastful. While true, this statement didn't deter the fact that he had, also, a heart. And that his real reason to fight, to restore the Enmpire. was that one day, tge day where he could look back on his work with pride, the only time he would have to take his blades would be to spar with his rivals and friends , not to fight endless and meaningless wars.

Verod's heart was weary, from his battles, but even more so from his friends', as while he had learned to detach himself from the fight, they had not.

Surprising him, he found himself praying to the Empress that somehow, someway, they could have this happy ending.

"Damn, I'm getting old."

To the Sustained, _immortal_ swordsman, that realization was worse than a thousand wounds.

*o*o*o*o*

 **So? You wanted a battle? I give you a battle... In SPACE! This idea was just too awesome to pass up, and there's going to be a real challenge writing this. But I will try! Because I love you all.**

 **And yes, the DLC Battleborn will be in this story, starting with Alani! I know that, according to the game, they joined from the start. But screw it, it's a fanfic! I do what I want!**

 **Seriously though, it's only an excuse to let me write the equivalent of a story mission in the fic. Expect bosses, mini bosses, and little subtitles a la Borderlands. Are you excited? I am excited.**

 **Oh, by the way, I already have something planned for Pendles... And there might be someone in the refugees that knows the Battleborn as well... And I might also have planned a lot of arc villains in the near and far future...**

 **Hope you enjoyed, people, and sorry for the tease :) I love you all. Don't forget to review! Darren out!**


	11. Chapter 10 : Mission 1 (Part 1)

**Hello everyone, Darren Xirias here, and I have a big, big apology to make for taking so long to update after last chapter.**

 **It is now official, I am far better at dialogue than battle scenes. I took so much time to update this because, one, it is the biggest chapter for the story yet, and two, I took my time to make sure it's as enjoyable a read as the rest of the story, and three, college resumed for me.**

 **Bad news though : we're actually only at the half of Mission 1 -_- I cut the chapter in two to update today is what I mean. The second half is in the works, rest assured, and will hopefully take less time, though.**

 **To all of you that feared I put the story on hiatus, be at peace : this is NOT the case. Reception for Aftermath has been overwhelmingly positive, and I have a lot of ideas that await in my crazy brain. The chapter is late not because I hit writer's block, but rather because this is an ambitious and pivotal chapter in the story, in a type of event I am not the best at writing.**

 **About the chapter himself : there is a whole lot of things happening! Namely, battles, battles, radio banter, battles, ISIC being ISIC, battles, Reyna and her team kicking a**, and some more battles. IN SPACE.**

 **And there's a cliffhanger, too. I am sorry, but this was actually the perfect point to cut the chapter in half. Please don't throw rocks at me.**

 **I know I repeat myself each chapter, but once again, thank you everyone for following and supporting Aftermath. You all absolutely rock! Especially after waiting for so long. I promise, I will try to take less time to update next part :)**

*o*o*o*o*

 _Mission 1 : The Asteroid (part 1)_

Ghalt: Alright, guys. We're really short on time. Callum, some kind of pirate lord who got a beef with Reyna, wants our cash, and if we don't give it to him, he will kill everyone inside the fort.

Kleese: And of course, our objective today is to flip him the middle finger, and give this monster what he truly deserves.

Deande: Naturally. To threaten innocent people like this...

Kleese: What? No, I was talking about the ransom! And his beard. Galaxies, his beard is hideous.

Ghalt: ...Right. Anyways, we've been lucky enough to have Alani inside to give us time. Our objective is to break through the pirate fleet, reach the fort, find Callum, kill him, and save Alani and the refugees. All of that in space. No pressure. Good luck everyone!

*o*o*o*o*

 ***Intro jingle***

 **Caldarius**

 _Anger management lessons required_

 **ISIC**

 _Friendly-neighborhood psychopath._

 **Benedict**

 _Totally not bird droppings, I swear_

 **Reyna**

 _Sci-fi pirate_

 **Galilea**

 _No Dark Knight jokes allowed_

 ***Jingle's End***

*o*o*o*o*

The five Battleborn were sitting inside the shuttle, waiting for Nova to ferry them near enough Callum's fleet.

Occasionally, the small ship shook, and with it its passengers. Plasma shots could be heard coming close to the ship, their characteristic sound unmistakable.

Benedict, Reyna and Galilea wore a small device of Kleese's invention, a sort of glass helmet placed on their faces that also acted as an oxygen tank, linked to their combinations' reserves, and a radio system, as space and voices didn't mesh well. Apart from that, everyone was dressed in their standard gear for a mission. They knew Kleese's device was experimental, but they didn't have time to dwell on that with the refugees in mortal danger.

"So" began Benedict. "This Callum. Why is he hating your guts, Reyna?"

"I admit I am curious about this matter as well" added Caldarius. "Such levels of hate are rarely found in anyone."

"You know how the Ring recognizes no authority at all expect mine, right?" began the Rogue leader. "Well, we had to decide why it should be mine, precisely, the Rogues would respect. Basically, we hold an Assembly of pirate lords every once in a while, and they elect the new Rogue leader. Callum and I were the only candidates that stayed alive, last election. And since he lost..."

"He regrets not having killed you, as well" completed ISIC. "And resents you for stealing what he thought was his right. Seems like a nice thought process, not stupid at all!" added he in sarcasm.

" _Ok, guys_ " rang Ghalt's voice through their coms, interrupting the conversation, " _good news is that Callum isn't willing to blow the fort. Bad news is that he saw you arrive, and judging from his fleet's deployment, he isn't too happy with that._ "

" _Yeah_ " said Nova, sarcastic, " _the plasma shots were a pretty good giveaway._ "

" _Reyna will lead this mission" continued Ghalt, unperturbed. "She knows the fort, knows the fleet's ship, and knows Callum. If anyone can point his weaknesses, it's her. In about two minutes, you will be thrown directly into space. Remember you have thrusters, and that your objective is to land on the asteroid fast. Don't try to destroy Callum's whole fleet, the refugees and Alani are what's important. ISIC, this goes double for you._ "

"Awww" whined the Magnus.

" _And remember, guys, don't play at being hero. If you can only get Alani out..."_

The Captain didn't finish. He didn't need to. Everyone knew they couldn't jeopardize a whole UPR frigate, and certainly not the Nova, for the refugees. If Alani was as good at fighting than Ghalt implied, she was the priority target. Everything else was secondary.

" _Once you're out in space, you won't be able to contact us until you're close enough to the fort's relay. You will be on your own for a short while, so you better hurry up. I hope you're all ready, guys, this will be a tough one. Ghalt out_."

Ghalt's voice didn't even fade from the passenger's bay that Reyna spoke.

"Alright, everyone, weapon check-up."

"PMT and Energy Blade ready" said Caldarius as he reloaded the PMT and did tentative swings with the blade. "Assault Frame ready."

"Plasma Cannon and Energy Aegis ready to go!" cheerfully said ISIC after monitoring some information on a screen inside his arm.

"Rockets at the ready" said Benedict as he reloaded the last rocket in the launcher, and verifying that said rockets were charged with the special space fuel.

"Sword sharp and shield ready" said Galilea as she unsheathed Shadowcry and installed her shield on her left arm.

"Plasma Pulse and Pistol ready" finished the Rogue leader, unlocking the safeties of her weapons.

" _I'm sending you to your death in two minutes_ " said Nova through the com system.

"Right" said Reyna, not paying attention to the Magnus. "If Callum is as broke as he was last time I saw him, about ten out of his fifteen ships will be flying junkyards. That means they wouldn't stand long against Caldarius. I'm worried about the five UPR-Mockingbirds he grabbed inside an abandoned base, though."

"Wait, wait, wait" interrupted Benedict. "He has five Mockingbirds? How come he has that much? He raided the Admiral's own fleet or what?"

"I don't know why you're afraid of those" deadpanned Caldarius. "I took down a Jennerit battlecruiser. Whatever the UPR can produce, it's no match against Jennerit designs."

"Sorry to break your bubble" interrupted Reyna, "but a battlecruiser is stationary. A Mockingbird isn't."

"The UPR-Space-Faring-Module Mk4, or Mockingbird according to its codename, is a highly mobile maneuverable space fighter" helpfully provided ISIC, with a speech worthy of the best Holo-Net ads. "Considered as a vast improvement over the 'Bulldog' Mk3, the Mockingbird is packed with a titanium shielding, hybrid plasma-ion thrusters for high speed outcomes, as well as a homing torpedo launcher, a heat ray cannon more accurate than a plasma railgun and just as deadly, and an EMP device to deactivate nearby enemy spaceships."

The Magnus let a small pause pass.

"We are completely f****d, my friends!" said he cheerfully.

" _You're going out in one minute. Beginning depressurization sequence_ " added Nova, as if purposely adding to the heroes' plight. As announced, the inside on the shuttle began losing pressure, and the low gravity began to let itself known, tissues on Reyna and Benedict's gear going upwards. Kleese's devices began working, supplying the Battleborn equipped with them with oxygen.

"No, we're not" said Reyna, answering ISIC. "If we can take down a Varelsi Conservator, we can take down those flying pieces of junk."

"No, we can't. I calculate a chance of about 87% that we will all die in a gruesome, terrible way. I admire your optimism though!"

"ISIC. Not. Helping" sighed an annoyed Reyna.

"You do know" interrupted Galilea, "that our job is to land in the asteroid, right? We don't need to fight the ships, if Callum dies, they will be easy pickings for the frigate that's with us."

"We would be foolish not to expect at least one intercepting us" added Caldarius. "A confrontation is unavoidable. And I must admit I do want to know whether the UPR can produce a real battleship, and not a flying deathtrap."

" _Beginning of the slaughter in thirty seconds_ "

"Alright, then" said Reyna, beginning to feel headache showing its ugly face. "Our priority is to land on the asteroid, and if we happen to run into one of those, we shoot him down as fast as possible. Now get ready everyone!"

The squad began moving towards the loading bay's door, preparing themselves to be thrown into the cold void of space.

" _The party begins in ten seconds._ "

The heroes stood firm, waiting for the door to open, and the following chaos.

" _Three. Two. One._

 _Opening of the doors._ "

And with those simple words, the door opened. Instantly, the Battleborn realized the depressurization had not been enough, as they were all sucked into the vortex that resulted. None of them could say a world as they were thrown out of the ship and into space, floating around helplessly for a few moments.

The shuttle closed its bay and hightailed it back to the _Nova_ , leaving the five-man squad alone.

"I know you are probably not in the state to listen to me" said ISIC through their radio, as, being a robot, he didn't even have conventional senses to be messed with in the beginning, "but I would advise you to get a hold of yourself before the spaceships arrive. Because I am not sharing my Wards. Just saying."

Caldarius recovered quickly, his assault frame being built with those kind of missions in mind, and corrected his stance, using his thrusters to keep himself in a straight position with a view on their objectives.

ISIC followed suit, the Magnus using his own thrusters to correct himself just like Caldarius. The Kemessian then looked around him, but saw no trace of his three other teammates.

"Reyna!" said he through the com. "I cannot locate your position! Requiring a status report!"

" _Uh, guys?_ " answered Benedict in her place. " _We might need some help down there._ "

"There is no down in space, idiot! Use you radio's beacon!"

" _Oh, yeah, I forgot it. Must have messed my head in this s**t._ "

Soon enough, ISIC and Caldarius received the signal, which told them Benedict was in the same place than them. Confused, the Kemessian looked down, and indeed the other three were under him. Literally down.

Suppressing a snort, the Kemessian dived for the group, ISIC following more slowly. Upon coming close, the Kemessian realized that Galilea and Reyna still had trouble orienting themselves, evidently panicked. Benedict was having trouble as well, but a least he managed to hold himself in place, though his head was pointing upside down compared to Caldarius and ISIC. The Jennerit shock-trooper lost no time, and promptly sped up to reorient his teammates correctly, while ISIC was watching in obvious bemusement.

"This clip is going straight on the Holo-Net, that's for sure!" said the Magnus, apparently filming the whole thing, which elected an annoyed grunt from Caldarius.

"I suppose we are beneath your notice for you to help, Magnus?"

"Indeed! You're not as dumb as Kleese, Caldarius! He still thinks because I am under control it means I must obey his every command. At least, you understand I despise you band of meatbags utterly! Props to you!"

"That's real fine and all" said a pissed off Reyna, now correctly oriented, "but we need to take a battle formation, and dive for the objective. I don't know how much we have on those things" she pointed at the oxygen tanks. "So, hurry the f**k up! The pirate fleet isn't here yet…"

Apparently, the universe decided it hated Reyna today, as a plasma bolt passed through the group, missing the Battleborn. The five heroes turned to see three rusted, clunky spaceships hovering near them. One of them quickly broke formation, and went to the Battleborn's left.

The direction in which they now could see the asteroid they were aiming for.

"Alright, screw it. One hundred creds to the first one to bring down a ship!"

"Oh, you're _on_ , Valeria" said Benedict, holding rockets inside his launchers while activating his thrusters to make an avoid maneuver.

"Engaging hostiles" said Caldarius as he shot himself towards the two spaceships, PMT in hand and unloading a whole magazine on the first.

Reyna dropped a Shield Booster on Caldarius, while moving herself behind Galilea and ISIC, who took their shields out, preparing for the next shots.

The pilots didn't notice Benedict taking position, and fired on Caldarius, who avoided the clunky cannons' slow shots with ease. Said shots landed on the rearguard's shields, who held still. Reyna benefited from the opportunity to exit her cover, and landed a Priority Target beacon on the ship Caldarius was aiming for. The Kemessian, seeing this, shot upwards, and launched a barrage of flashbangs.

The three other organic Battleborn shielded their eyes from the light, but the pilot of the ship did too, which allowed Caldarius to use his Energy Blade. On the cockpit.

The impact cracked the reinforced glass, and once the pilot could see again, he instantly panicked, though Caldarius couldn't make out what he was saying. The pilot tried to disengage, but his ship suddenly spinned, courtesy of the explosion of Benedict's rocket.

The Aviant shot another rocket, this time aiming for the fuel compartment, hoping to make the ship explode. Caldarius disengaged, all the while shooting at the cockpit. The second ship, however, aimed for Benedict, pointing its plasma cannons at him, and fired.

The Aviant, just having shot a third rocket after the second didn't work, couldn't escape the blow in time. He took the shot in the stomach, flying backwards a little bit. The distinctive blue glow of the shields flickered, meaning Benedict's shields were already strained.

"ISIC" ordered Reyna, "go protect Benedict!"

The Magnus used a Plasma Charge to cover the distance, and placed himself in front of the Aviant, Energy Aegis at the ready.

The ship shot again, this time ISIC's Aegis shortly disappearing, indicating his imminent failure. Caldarius tried to home in on it, but the first, already damaged ship, shot a suppression barrage, cutting the Kemessian's path. Reyna and Galilea advanced on the first ship, Reyna using her Plasma Pulse while Galilea shot bolts of darkness, but soon enough ISIC was going to be overpowered, and that would leave a breach in their formation.

The second ship shot a third time, ready to break the Aegis. However, ISIC dissipated the Aegis, and threw out his Rotating Wards just before the impact. The plasma shot reached its target, before deftly returning back at its owner, cutting a straight path across the ship, before causing its explosion.

"You can drop the hundred credits at Minion Robotics Accounting Department, Reyna!" said ISIC in a cheerful tone, relishing in the devastation he just caused. "Oh, and before I forget: activating stupid_philosophers_quotes. exe. 'Being a dumbass is like judo: all you need to do is return your opponent's strength against him'."

"Aaw, man, I wanted that new sound system so much…" complained Benedict, having recovered from the earlier blast.

"Watch out" interrupted Caldarius. "Enemy spacecraft incoming."

Indeed, the other ship was flying straight to the group, all the while charging its cannons.

"Take cover, everyone!" shouted the Valkyrie.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" countered Galilea, who then decided to do a crazy thing.

Namely, launching her shield at the cockpit.

The strength behind the throw somehow managed to overcome the lack of gravity, and landed straight on its target, shattering the glass. The pilot head suddenly went to beige to pale to crimson red as the sudden change in pressure as well as the just as sudden lack of breathable atmosphere managed to make his head explode in a gory fountain. The plasma shot died inside the cannons.

"Gross" said Caldarius, Reyna and Benedict.

"Nice!" said ISIC.

Galilea used her thrusters to take back her shield, wiping away the floating blood.

"Two ships down, then" said the warrior woman.

"And about thirteen to go" reminded Reyna. "Nice one, guys, but we need to be more efficient. We left an opening, and Benedict would have eaten space dust if ISIC hadn't intervened. Which, in and of itself, was risky too."

"I propose that Benedict stays behind a shielded teammate at all times" advised Caldarius. "I would suggest ISIC, since he can attack from afar."

"Look me in the holographic eyes" said ISIC. "Is it the face of babysitter? It is not. I will lay waste to those bozos the way I see fit."

"Guys, I can just, ya know, pay more attention. And if Gal and Caldy go in their faces, they won't be able to notice me."

"Call me Caldy one more time, Aviant" threatened Caldarius, letting his Energy Blade out. "Come on, try it."

"Everyone, shut the f**k up!" shouted Reyna. "Caldarius, you do your usual thing. Galilea, you tank hits up close, and use your sword to pierce important parts if possible. ISIC, you don't babysit Benedict, BUT you prepare yourself to use a Plasma Charge to protect him if necessary. Apart from that, shoot. And Benedict, you use your homing rockets on the ships I will mark. Understood?"

Everyone nodded, though ISIC let out a small whimper.

"Good. Then, let's go and reach that bloody rock!"

And then, another plasma shot passed by.

"I f*****g hate this place" muttered Reyna in barely concealed rage.

Before them was the rest of the pirate fleet, all of them flying pieces of trash with the exception of the vanguard: a group of five dark green, boxy, bulky spaceships that looked like they just went out of production, their weapons pointed at the Battleborn. The UPR Mockingbirds.

"Damn it" said Benedict. "He _really_ has five of them. S**t"

"Reyna" intervened Galilea, "we can't let those ships come near us. If they use their EMP on us, our oxygen tanks will fry! And so will ISIC for that matter."

"Since I fully intend to take those credits first thing Monday morning" replied the Magnus, "I will ensure _they_ get fried first. Activating omega_strike. exe."

With that, the rogue Magnus began transforming, a whole battery of siege weapons, previously hidden from view, rose from the depths of his frame. An entire gatling gun was perched upon ISIC's head, while his shoulders revealed two automatic-fire heavy plasma cannons. An holographic shield deployed in front of him, as he placed himself in front of the other Battleborn.

"Hey, you big babies! _That_ one is for making me spend two thousand credits per second firing! But, hey, no hard feelings, right?"

And with that said, he opened fire.

The ships tried to get in an escape formation, trying to flank him, but ISIC had been fast enough to activate his weapons in seconds, which meant he could fire at will in the middle of a spaceship cluster.

Needless to say, the pirate ships blew up fairly quickly.

The Mockingbirds fared better, but not by much. They survived the initial onslaught, but with each ship down, ISIC could focus fire on the ones remaining, until progressively, they were the last ships standing. Desperate, they tried to fire their heat rays on the Magnus, but the projectiles helplessly dissipated on the shield.

"Come on, try to hit me!" taunted the Magnus "I f****g dare you!"

The five UPR spaceships tried, and failed. Every attack they could launch was promptly disposed of by the shield or the cannons' fire. They couldn't even close in, as the nearer they would be of the Magnus, the easier it would be for him to shoot them in a vital part.

"Well, fellas" said the Magnus after about twenty seconds, while the rest of the Battleborn watched in scared awe, "as much as I like fighting spaceships, this program drains my energy faster than I bypass Ghalt's firewalls. Anybody has an idea?"

Benedict snapped back into life, remembering he had something on him that could finish this fight.

"Think ya can handle it for a few more seconds over here?"

"I will be able to stay in this state for one minute and thirty-seven seconds, and counting."

The Aviant nodded, and promptly flew behind the Magnus, before unpacking another rocket of his.

A noticeably bigger rocket, with a crudely drawn mouth on its top.

"Alright, try to group them up a little" said he as he unloaded the Boomsday rocket inside his launcher. "I have something in there they'll remember tomorrow morning."

ISIC shot some suppression fire on both sides, forcing the ships to group up bit by bit. Meanwhile, Benedict finished preparing the launcher's special mode, intending to take remote control of the rocket once he shot it.

"Done!" said the Magnus. "Now would be a good time to end this s**t. I only have one minute left!"

Benedict answered by darting out the cover ISIC provided him, and fired.

The rocket was slow, and the ships dodged it effortlessly despite ISIC's barrage.

Then, Benedict activated the remote control.

The rocket exploded in a blast of yellow and orange, the blast radius encompassing the five Mockingbirds at once. The ships visibly recoiled from the hit, and the Battleborn could see alarms blazing inside the cockpits. The Boomsday obviously did serious damage.

"Well" said ISIC as he left his siege mode, "That's a really fine firework. Nice shades of orange on that one."

"Thank you?" tentatively replied the Aviant.

"Watch out" shouted Reyna, "they're still working!"

And indeed the UPR spacecrafts still miraculously worked, their reactors throwing out way more sparks than before, and their shielding blackened and distorted, but they worked. And apparently, they were diving in for a suicide attack on the Battleborn, their weapons blazing.

"Oh, crud" said ISIC, "I need to recharge to deploy the Aegis. Guess we're all going to die, then."

"Not on my watch" replied the Rogue leader. "Everyone, come closer, quick!"

Reyna deployed her Photonic Ward around her, the four other Battleborn hurrying inside the purple sphere of protection, the ships' shots bouncing back harmlessly.

"This won't cut it" said Galilea seconds after they reached safety. "The Ward won't keep the ships themselves at bay, and they're coming in fast."

"Then we will have to destroy them before that" replied Caldarius, who promptly aimed a Flashbang barrage at the Mockingbirds.

Seeing the window of opportunity, Reyna landed a Priority Target beacon on the nearest ship, and fired her Plasma Pulse at it, while Benedict opened fire on two other. Galilea was already placing herselves between her teammates and the ships, readying her shield. ISIC shot on the ships as well, but with his energy drained, his damage was unnoticeable.

This proved to be enough, however, as the ship Reyna marked fell in pieces in a flash of orange and yellow, the damage being too much. The ships Benedict fired at followed suit soon enough, leaving the last two open to the group's focused fire.

In seconds, the brutal battle was over.

The Ward dissipated, and everyone stopped for a moment to catch their breath (recharging energy in ISIC's case).

"Is it me" said the Magnus, "or do all of our plans end up not followed by anyone? Because I definitely remember a briefing mere minutes ago that we just totally paid no mind about."

Reyna just sighed, before smiling a little.

"Alright guys, I won't lie, this went better than I expected."

"Pah" snorted Caldarius. "The UPR can't build a threatening spaceship at all. This was easy."

"Apart from the fact we only narrowly avoided death 4 times in this battle" reminded ISIC. "If we could somehow have this number _not_ raise, that would be very fine by me."

" _Anyways_ " said Reyna with more insistence, "We now need to reach the fort that's just behind us."

She pointed at the asteroid, not too far from their position.

"And I don't know about you, but I can't wait to rub at Callum's face that his whole fleet was taken down by five foot soldiers."

*o*o*o*o*

Callum was standing a small distance away of the hangar bay's door of the Selenite Fort. _His_ fort.

But the Helician monk that was blasting his men across the room apparently didn't get the memo. She was using her water powers with great effect, shielding herself from enemy fire while taking down wave after wave of her opponents. The pirate lord massaged his temples, frustration quickly building up, as he supervised the battle under him.

"Boys, why can't you take down a single woman?" asked he in a calm tone.

"Because she can throw water dragons at us, chef!" replied helpfully one of his men, behind a cover.

Callum aimed his dual-handed shotgun, and fired straight into the scoundrel's head. His brain decorated the cover he was crouching behind.

"What I meant" carried he on without a care in the world, "is why are you _still_ unable to get past her, when she is obviously tiring, and obviously _alone_ to defend that damn hangar. Don't answer" he cut another of his men.

The pirate lord sighed deeply, and breathed slowly, not giving in to the anger, keeping his cool.

"As long as the ships guard the space outside the place, there's no reinforcements for her, at least."

"SIR! SIR!" shouted another pirate as he barged in the room, coming back from the fort's entrance. "The Battleborn! They… They broke through the fleet! They're landing on the asteroid right now!"

Callum slowly turned to see the pirate, his face keeping composure.

"How much casualties?"

"All… All battlecrafts and their pilots are down, sir."

Callum breathed. Once. Twice.

He took his shotgun, and bashed the messenger's head, hard enough for teeth to fly. Then, he aimed for a point-blank shot in the face, and fired.

As some blood landed on his clothes, he spoke through a com device.

"Smokey, I have something for you to do…"

*o*o*o*o*

Galilea breathed the artificial air coming from the fort's atmosphere generator, as the Battleborn passed through the force field separating the fort from space. She was glad she wouldn't have to dive into its coldness anytime soon.

" _Nice landing, guys_ " said Ghalt through their radio, the com system reusable again as they were inside the fort's relay's action radius. " _To be honest, I didn't expect you to take down the whole fleet by yourself._ "

"What do you know, Trevor" replied the Rogue Leader, "when I do something, I don't half-a*s the job."

" _What did I tell you about using my first name, Reyna?_ "

"Do I look like I care, Trevor?"

"If we could come back to the mission" interrupted Caldarius, "we would all be grateful. Unless you have some love spat to sort out before we're good to go?"

" _What? No, that's not-I mean, it's not like-she does this to everyone else and…_ "

"I think we broke him" deadpanned Reyna.

"And not you?" countered Benedict.

"I live with Orendi" chuckled the Valkyrie. "Plus, unlike some people, I'm not that bothered by our love life being known to some people."

"Wait" said Galilea, realizing the meaning of what she just heard. "You and Ghalt? Since when?"

"Before Pennarch, actually. He was busy chasing me, I was busy playing him like a fool, and somehow I decided to join him a short time after, and things happened. He's a nice guy, and we have a lot of common points, so it went smoother than expected.

"The mission" reminded Caldarius.

" _Yes, the mission_ " added Mellka through the radio. " _I don't know_ how _you all managed to have that effect on the Captain, but he is busy talking to the coffee machine. If we could please get back to saving the hundreds of people in this fort soon, that would be cool._ "

"Alright" said Reyna, losing her smirk, and getting back into a professional state. "What's the situation, then?"

" _According to Deande, your old friend gained quite a following in the last years. Notably, he hired two very good bounty hunters to act as his second in command._ "

"Joy" deadpanned Benedict. "Minibosses."

"How do we know they are that good?" asked Galilea.

" _They have more than five years in this job, and they're still alive._ "

ISIC let out an impressed whistle.

" _You will probably meet them at some point, so yeah, be careful, yaddah, yaddah. Kleese is busy hacking into their com systems, once he's done, we will have access to everything they say, and we will be able to contact some of the refugees, if they have a radio._ "

" _Good news, everyone_ " interrupted Kleese, " _I managed to steal a plan of the fort from our pirate friends. The energy core keeping the space defenses powered is not too far from your location. Destroy it, and the_ Nova _will be able to provide support. I'm sending the data in your systems right now._ "

The squad all received a notification from their coms, and soon enough, they all had a map of the asteroid fort displayed on them, with a big red dot flashing at a precise point.

"Let's move everyone!" shouted the Rogue Leader. "No time to waste!"

The hallway the Battleborn took was empty, which wasn't surprising, considered all of Callum's men were probably busy dealing with Alani. Galilea ran ahead, shield in tow, ready to intercept any threat that could appear. Reyna and Caldarius were just behind, ready to dispose of anything the armor-clad woman would stop in its tracks. Benedict was gliding over them, trying to take a better view of their surroundings, while ISIC closed the march.

The relative calmness was progressively broken as sounds of battles were heard clearer and clearer as they progressed into the once-UPR base, until they arrived at an intersection.

Looking at their plan, Reyna urged the squad to take the left, despite the sounds coming from the right.

They kept running, until they arrived into a long, oval room. Pipelines littered the walls, and on the opposite end laid the energy core, a yellow sphere inside some glass casing, from whom the pipes all emerged of. Some kind of yellow glow was flowing through.

However, there was opposition.

A ball of flame landed on Galilea's shield, making her recoil, before narrowly parrying another one.

In the aftermath of the attack, gunfire was heard, and soon the Battleborn reached cover, ready for whenever the one who threw those fireballs would strike again.

"Mellka?" said Reyna through the radio. "Did you guys register that?"

" _Yup. That would be the first bounty hunter I was talking about. The name is Smokey._ "

Benedict tried to stop his laughter from being heard, and failed.

"What?" said he between two laughing fits, as his companions threw him looks. "Seriously, who would call himself Smokey?"

" _…_ _Anyways_ " resumed Mellka, " _despite unconventional naming methods, this guy is, you guessed it, very fond of fire. Like, it's unhealthy. For him, and for everyone else._ "

"BURN! BURN, YOU PATHETICAL MEATBAGS! HAHAHAHAHA!"

 ** _Smokey_**

 _TF2 Pyro Main_

The man who just talked, the aforementioned Smokey, was busy laughing like a maniac in the middle of the room, a very complicated and unstable-looking custom flamethrower in his hands.

"THE FLESH IS WEAK! YOU WILL BE PURIFIED IN FIRE!"

"Not interested" calmly said Caldarius while throwing a Flashbang at him. The madman, busy gloating and laughing, didn't pay attention, and took the resulting flash dead-on.

"AAAAAAAAARGH! MY EYES!"

It appeared, however, that the bounty hunter was the least competent of the group, as gunfire erupted around the Battleborn, Callum's men not taking any chances and firing from the safety of their covers, namely behind the pipes. ISIC activated his Wards hurriedly, which allowed him to provide time for the rest of the squad to take cover as well.

Reyna dropped on the way a Shield Booster on the Magnus, before joining Caldarius behind cover. On the other side of the room, Galilea and Benedict were holding their own, and ISIC in the middle of the two groups was busy attracting fire.

"Caldarius, think you can provide a distraction?" asked Reyna.

"That will be difficult. The only way is across this shooting field, and I'm a shock trooper, not a miracle maker."

"Galilea?" asked Reyna through the radio, allowing her not to shoot.

"I could if it weren't for the maniac. I won't be able to advance through the gunfire and dodge his flamethrower at the same time."

"If you could move your pretty butts" intervened ISIC, who had switched to his Aegis, "before my energy reserves are depleted completely, that would be nice."

"The flamethrower looks unstable, though" said Caldarius, reloading his TMP. "If we could land a good shot on the fuel tank, that would cause an explosion in their ranks."

"Benedict?" asked Galilea. "You think you can manage that?"

"Oh, don't worry, people" replied the Aviant, falling back into his usual bragging self, "this shot is gonna be golden."

He loaded a new rocket in the launcher, and pulled a switch on it, before firing… at the roof.

Before Reyna could intervene, she saw the rocket changing direction mid-flight, going over the cover, and aiming straight at Smokey, who was still busy ranting on something, and most importantly, still blinded.

The resulting blast made the temperature in the room jump by five degrees.

"Caldarius!" called Reyna, knowing full well the shock trooper assault frame would allow him to act immediately, "give us an opening!"

The Kemessian darted out of cover, benefiting from the fact Callum's men were still blinded by the blast, and went to the right of the squad, lining up foes for a Flashbang Barrage. Two pirates fell before they ever had a chance to recover, and a third one before he fully came back to his senses.

"Right side weakened" informed the Kemessian.

"Galilea! Protect our left flank!" shouted Reyna, getting up and beginning to walk towards the energy core. "ISIC, help Caldarius! Benedict, with me!"

Reyna placed a Booster on Galilea, who got out of cover, while ISIC charged into the band of pirates Caldarius was busy slicing through with his energy blade, his grenade launcher needing to cool off. The Magnus began shooting with his charge cannon, and the right side of Callum's opposition in this room began melting like snow in summer.

Meanwhile, the left side, not being killed before the effects of the blinding blast dissipated, regained their senses, and resumed shooting. However, with only one side to worry about, Galilea could focus all of her attention on them, and her defense soon proved to be unbreakable for the pirates, her shield faring much better than it did against the spaceships' railguns.

Before any of them tried to perform a flanking maneuver, Galilea conjured a Desecrating field below her, and willed the darkness to pull her opponents towards her. They yelled out of surprise while rolling over the pipes, their bodies being dragged on the ground by the darkness' power. Galilea promptly got to work, slicing through the group, her sword striking true again and again.

Reyna provided cover fire whenever Galilea or Caldarius and ISIC were threatened by a an unseen sneaking attack, while advancing with Benedict towards the core. The pirates, seeing what they were trying to do, began withdrawing on the core, the Desecrate field having dissipated, while shooting at the two Battleborn in the middle.

Reyna wasn't having any of it, and dropped a Photonic Ward, urging the rest of the squad to take cover, which they did.

"Benedict!" urged the Rogue Leader, "On my word, I want you to unload everything you got on the core!"

The Aviant nodded wordlessly, dropping a knee on the ground, and aiming at the core, wanting the shots to matter. ISIC and Galilea were defending their flanks well, while Caldarius took down anyone that came too close of the core, his accuracy with his TMP never failing. Reyna launched a Priority Target beacon on the core, and shouted to Benedict.

"NOW!"

The Aviant shot, and shot again, and once more, unloading his magazine as fast as he could. At the third rocket, however, the glass panel began showing cracks, cracks that were growing in size by the second. The Battleborn took their leave at that, sprinting out of the room, narrowly avoiding the gunshots of the pirates.

The moment they got out, a blast erupted through the hallway, the radius coming close of the heroes, but not quite. The Battleborn stopped in their tracks, panting (bar ISIC), and recovered a little.

" _Nice work, guys_ " congratulated Ghalt, apparently having recovered from his stuttering crisis from earlier. " _The fort's defenses just shut down. Nova will be able to drop minions in the hangar bay, that should slow off Callum for a while._ "

" _Even better_ " interrupted Kleese, " _with Nova flying up close, we're capturing more efficeintly the radio signals of both Callum's forces and someone else inside the hangar bay. Goodness, their firewalls are atrociously bad, even worse than those on the Captain's computer._ "

" _Did I hear that right, Kleese?"_ said Ghalt, in a threatening tone.

" _I heard it from Deande, Captain! I never tried to hack into your personal account, of course!_ "

"Yeah" snorted Reyna. "Sure."

" _Anyways_ " said Kleese, changing the subject. " _I think I managed to get the signal from the hangar bay working on her system. Hello? Is there someone on the line?_ "

" _Yes, yes!_ " answered someone on the other end of the line, a young woman judging by her voice. " _Don't cut the line! Please don't cut the line!_ "

"Calm down, miss" said Reyna through the radio. "We're not cutting it anytime soon. How are things holding up on your side?"

The Battleborn had resumed running through the hallways, their coms indicating the next place they needed to go to.

" _Not too good. Miss Alani is holding on fine, but she's alone against everyone else. So far, she didn't slip up, but…_ "

"Looks like your minions are a good idea then, Kleese" said Caldarius. "She will need all the respite she need."

" _Minions?_ " asked the refugee on the other side of the line.

" _Well, you see_ " said Kleese, " _Some of us are inside this fort right now, and they just took down Callum's fleet and his space defenses. Our ship is nearby, and when we're at range, we will be able to teleport minions in the hangar, programmed to go after the pirates._ "

"By the way" said Reyna, "we're going to reach the hangar in five minutes tops. The Battleborn will get you all out of here."

" _No way! The Battleborn?_ You _are helping us?_ "

" _Yeah_ " chuckled Ghalt, " _that's kind of our job._ "

" _Awesome!_ " laughed the refugee on the other end of the line, obviously relieved. " _With Rendain's killers inbound, those scum don't stand the chance!_ "

" _That's lame_ " rang another voice, younger, and male. " _I thought the UPR were helping us! But maybe you betrayed them again, and stranded them somewhere to hog all the glory, huh?_ "

" _…_ _Wow_ " said Mellka through the radio. " _I didn't expect that one._ "

"Listen, kid" said Reyna. "The UPR are just behind us, and they're the one going to transport you back to Tempest, now that Rendain's dead. We're just here to take care of Callum."

" _Shut up, P_ " said the female refugee, voice hushed, before resuming in a normal tone. " _Forgive my little brother. He always wanted to become an UPR soldier, so he isn't too cool about the perceived betrayal of the UPR Battleborn. Yup, even on Tempest, that made the news._ "

" _Little brother? We hatched the same day, you liar!_ "

"…Hatched?" asked in confusion about everyone else.

" _Oh, yeah, we're Aviants. Forgot I broke the video feed on this thing._ "

"Why would there be Aviants amongst Jennerit refugees?" wondered Galilea. "I thought almost all of them were working for the UPR?"

"They were Slaves" replied immediately Caldarius. "The Imperium never shied from employing 'lesser' races as cannon fodder and low maintenance workforce, like mine. When they allied with the Varelsi, I guess their definition of 'lesser' became far more permissive. They were probably taken during a space raid."

" _…_ _That's about right_ " said the female refugee. " _Almost all of us are former Slaves, actually. Alani was on Tempest during the first Heliophage battle, and she took us out of the city. A lot of people are happy to come back, because they lived here all their lives, but my brother and I would rather join the UPR on Bliss._ "

" _But of course, you won't do that, huh?_ " said the other refugee. " _You're just here to recruit Alani, and leave us be on this rock, I guess._ "

"Well…" began ISIC, before a glare from Reyna convinced him to shut up.

"Recruiting Alani is the plus in this mission, not the main goal" said Reyna. "Our job, believe it or not, is to save you."

"Nice save" muttered Benedict to Reyna.

" _Damn it. Peck Benedict, if you could just shut up and try not to insult the people that want to save us, that would be nice._ "

Benedict tripped when he heard the name. Squawking, he managed to place his two arms before him, stopping his embarrassing fall. The other Battleborn noticed this, of course, and exchanged looks between them, worried of Benedict's reaction.

" _Huh?_ " said Peck, " _You have an Aviant with you?_ "

Said Aviant got up, slowly, his arms shaking unwillingly. He went to Reyna's com system, speaking in a small, hopeful voice.

"Peck?" asked he. "Wisp?" said he, as he had only one daughter, and the woman on the other hand called Peck 'brother', making the connection easy to see. "Is that… Is that you?"

" _…_ _How do you know my name?_ " asked Wisp after a small moment, unsure of what was happening. " _Who are you?_ "

" _Wait_ " interrupted Peck. " _That voice… Dad? No, that's stupid. He died on Madan._ "

"You might want to reconsider that thought" interrupted Reyna.

" _Could it be?_ " asked softly Wisp, bewildered. " _Dad… Is that you? Is that really you?_ "

"…You're alive" said Benedict. Then, louder. "You're alive! Galaxies, you're alive!"

The Aviant laughed out of relief. Then, he remembered exactly where his children were exactly, and his beak closed, forming a hard line, a new determination shining through his eyes.

"I'm on my way" said he through the radio. "I'm getting you two out of this. I am not losing you a second time."

He ran off in the direction where the gunfire could be heard, his launcher at the ready, the rest of the squad doing a double take before sprinting after him.

"Damn you, Benedict!" shouted Reyna. "What did we say about playing it as a team?"

*o*o*o*o*

Callum sighed. He sighed deeply.

One of his two prime bounty hunters. One he had paid ten thousand credits. The infamous Smokey, the mad pyromaniac.

Against the Battleborn, he didn't even last five seconds, that his now silent radio canal attested to.

"I hate this place" muttered he softly.

"But, then, boss, why do we try to take it back?" said one of his minions.

This proved to be a mistake, as Callum fired at him, which resulted in his guts spilling on the floor in a gory display.

"Because it's _mine_ , that's why" replied the pirate lord to his now shrieking underling, who was desperately trying to hold his guts back, and failing miserably.

Alani, though tired, didn't even lose one ounce of ground, and stood defiantly between the pirates and their goal. She saw the way Callum treated his men, and couldn't help but snicker at the display.

"What's the matter?" taunted the monk. "If you want me to have less morons to fight, you can start gunning your whole crew right now! That would save me some time."

As she said that, she fired a water bolt at the nearest enemy, making him fly across the room, and into a wall.

"Keep talking, fish" insulted Callum. "See what good it will make when you're lying dead on the floor."

"Whoa, I am _so_ not threatened right now" giggled Alani. "For a 'Pirate Lord', you sure aren't intimidating."

Callum prepared to snark back at Alani, however, his radio woke up, and a voice he knew all too well rang through.

" _Hello, Callum!_ " greeted Reyna. " _Things are not going well, I hear!_ "

The pirate groaned. Of course she would have found a way to hack the fort's systems.

"Laugh all you want, Valeria. I will see you crawling at my feet by the end of the day."

" _Yeah, fat chance. I crawl at no one's feet, loser. So, do me a favor and go die in a hole. Unless you want to send us your second henchman? Sure hope he is better than the last one. I barely broke sweat against him._ "

Callum couldn't really say she was wrong on that one.

" _And judging from the gunfire I hear, as well as the girly cries of your band of buffoons, I guess you're still being held up by Alani. Say, last time we fought, I didn't remember you being a complete joke. What happened? Alcohol? Gambling?_ "

"Shut up, woman!"

" _You wish. Unfortunately, I have better things to do than taunting you, so here's the deal. Just run, stay out of our way, and you will live. Keep trying to ruin my day, and you won't. I will give you until your second loser in chief bites the dust to think about it. See ya!_ "

Reyna hung up, and left Callum white in anger, his fist holding his shotgun so hard the handle bent slightly. Regaining his composure, he radioed his other second-in-command.

"Keyneth, the Battleborn are gunning for us. Intercept them."

He hung up after that, and immediately went back to shouting at his men to hurry the fuck up.

That's when he saw two Elite Bots emerging from the hangar bay. Elite Bots that passed by Alani harmlessly, before proceeding to fire all their weapons at Callum's men.

"For f**k's sake!"

*o*o*o*o*

The Battleborn, meanwhile were running down the main hallway, aiming to reach the hangar bay in time, not bothering to stop more than seconds to dispatch the ragtag groups of pirates they met on the way.

Benedict was still fuming about the fact that Reyna stopped him to reach his children in record time, even after she used the convincing point of how he would be more useful to them alive and with backup than dead two steps in the room. The Aviant had reluctantly agreed, though.

After Reyna's taunting session, and the consequent realization that Callum's forces were not doing well at all, the band managed to relax slightly, glad to know this mission was going pretty well.

" _Alright guys_ " said Ghalt. " _Given that we now have an incentive to rescue those refugees pronto_ " said he while referring to Benedict's children, " _the mission just got that much harder. Thankfully, Callum appears to be stuck against Alani. So far, she held up good, but there's no telling how long she can keep it up._ "

" _I wouldn't be so worried about Alani, Captain_ " replied Deande. " _From what we noticed, Callum is an ineffective leader, and is hiring random thugs as dangerous as a basic Thrall. If what you told us about Alani is true, she can definitely hold her position for a while longer._ "

"Doesn't hurt to hurry up" countered Reyna. "I hate the guy, but I have to admit Callum is very good with his shotgun. If he decides he has enough of it, he might just jump in the melee and finish her himself."

"Unless he is keeping his energy for us" replied Caldarius. "So far, we crushed all the opposition he threw at us. It would only make sense for him to assume us reaching him isn't a matter of _if_ , but a matter of _when_."

"I calculate the psychopathic shock trooper is about 92,4% right. The other 7,6% result in us failing this mission horribly, and the refugees being all dead or enslaved."

" _Thank you_ , ISIC" said an annoyed Reyna, "for this useful information."

"Something bothers me" said Galilea, joining the conversation. "Mellka, you mentioned two bounty hunters, am I right?"

" _Yup_ " replied the Eldrid mercenary. " _The second one's name is Keyneth, a.k.a. the Kennel Master. Don't ask me what this nickname means, all bounty hunters in this system are insane anyways. He's actually a former worker of yours, Kleese!_ "

" _Oh goodness gracious. I swear, if you somehow manage to say it's my fault this nutjob is here…_ "

"It's your fault, Kleese!" added cheerfully ISIC.

" _ISIC nonwithstanding_ " Kleese continued, " _I revoke our subscription to the LLC Coffee Service._ "

" _NO!_ " shouted both Mellka and Deande, clearly panicked.

" _Geez, Kleese_ " said Ghalt. " _You got me an idea to keep some of the crew in check, now._ "

Benedict coughed.

"If we could please come back to rescuing my children, guys?"

" _So, Keyneth_ " resumed Mellka. " _Former Minion Robotics worker, resigned after an incident involving him, a coworker, a plug and three Blade Bots._ "

" _Oh, I remember him now!_ " said Kleese. " _Galaxies, that incident was ugly… After that he became absolutely crazy. He thinks of the minions as his dogs. He fed them treats, patted them, all of this stuff._ "

"I have the feeling the Kennel Master moniker comes from this" said Caldarius.

" _Don't worry about him_ " replied Kleese. " _If he is like last time I saw him in my office, he will have three, four Bots, at worst. You will trash him in seconds._ "

The moment Kleese finished his sentence, the Battleborn heard a very loud, booming howl across the hallways. It was answered by two other howls, weaker, but still chilling nonetheless.

"… Somehow, I don't think this is good news" said Galilea as the group halted.

"No, _really_?" snarked back Reyna, though her pale face told the group she was as scared as the rest. "ISIC. Can you scan the area?"

"Activating morons_radar .exe " was ISIC's reply. A screen appeared on his glass casing, showing the map Kleese sent them, zoomed on their location, with a sonar-like effect circling over it. Soon enough, nine dots appeared on the map. Five green for the Battleborn, one blue indicating an organic being, located just before the hangar room which was still some distance away, and three red dots, who indicated robotic beings, programed to be their enemies, across the rooms and hallways of this section.

And the three red dots were closing in.

Intrigued, ISIC launched a more detailed scan, after seeing the speed at which the dots moved, far too fast for a minion to move. The scan took less than a second, but it left ISIC lauging.

The rest of the Battleborn winced. When ISIC was laughing on his own, things got ugly pretty fast.

"Oh, my friends" managed to say the Magnus between two fits of laughter. "Kleese is right. Those are only Bots… Heavily modded and reengineered Bots, that somehow run faster as a Ronin."

The Battleborn heard the howls again, this time definitely closer to their group.

"Everyone!" shouted Reyna, taking out of its holster her pistol, "Battle formation!"

As soon as she said that, three metallic monstrosities jumped in the hallway they just came from, a single red dot on their face. The robots were formed of a Blade Bot body comprising the head, followed by an amalgam of wires of metal plating that formed the general shape of a quadruped. Under their head, a small contraption mimicked a jaw, complete with a row of metallic teeth that were far too polished for a Rogue conception. A small "tail" erected from their behind, with a sort of metal stinger attached to it, that periodically flashed electricity.

 **MR Mod-Bot: Fenris Mk-I**

 _Man's Best Friend_

The red 'eyes' of the robots gazed unwaveringly at them, and they howled at the Battleborn again, everyone expect ISIC being genuinely scared by the sound, though not as much as by the Varelsi, but still close. ISIC, for his part was already taunting the Fenris to come at him.

In a great, synchronized leap, they obliged.


	12. Chapter 11 : Mission 1 (Part 2)

**Hello everyone, Darren Xirias here.**

 **First thing first, a huge, huge, huge thank you to all of you who read the story and sent it at Gearbox. Thanks to you, I have been named in the Community Spotlight of the 24th Battleplan! That means a lot to me. To be honest, I didn't expect this story to earn me that kind of recognition when I first wrote it. Once again, thank you all for your support, your kind words, and your reviews.**

 **On to the story now : I did promise you I would take less time to update this time around, right? Well that's what happened! I took _slightly_ less time to update. I still fulfilled my promise :p Seriously though, now that I have finished the battle scene, expect the next chapter to come more frequently. They will of course be shorter, given that the scale of their events will be lesser. **

**I had an idea to expand the story though : What if I wrote one-shots for each individual Battleborn? By one-shots, I mean short stories only focusing on one of them, preferably in life-threatening situations of course :) For example, what would you think of Whiskey Foxtrot's being on the run from the UPR, just before he joined the Rogues, and fighting his pursuers for his freedom? Or of Thorn hunting a ravaging beast on Ekkunar? Or of Rath's duel with the last Keeper of the Blade he took down? Say your opinion in the reviews ^^**

 **Anyways, I won't bother you any longer. Just before we start, I must tell you Benedict's reunion with his kids is not in this chapter. It will happen in the near future, though, that's a given! Also, I might have introduced earlier than initially planned a character in this chapter. This has of course no links to him being an absolute fan-favorite of mine, as well as many other Battleborn fans of course ^^**

 **Once again, thank you for reading, and please review :)**

 ***o*o*o*o***

 _Mission 1 : The Asteroid (part 2)_

In a moment's notice, the mechas were on ISIC, their weight crashing down on the Magnus' frame. ISIC only let out a laugh at that, his body shaking a bit, but not falling to the ground.

"How amusing. You inferior, backwater prototypes think you can handle _me_. I will rip your memory cores apart and laugh at the futility of your attempts at my semblance of life."

Caldarius' reflexes, meanwhile, let him out of his surprise, and he flew up in a diagonal angle, aiming to get a good shot at the modded minions, his TMP already firing at one of them. Galilea's training soon kicked up as well, and she charged, shield in front of her, aiming to bash one of the metallic monstrosities down.

Reyna and Benedict were the last one to react, they being well younger than the Kemessian and the Helician, and as such having less battle experience. Benedict took to the airs and began emptying his launcher on the pack wrestling with ISIC, while Reyna was busy protecting ISIC and providing additional fire to the rest of the team.

The robots realized that their tactic of launching at ISIC and keep biting at him wasn't going to work, so they leaped away from the Magnus, the three of them landing gracefully on their feet.

ISIC used the respite to let out Rotating Wards, and began firing at the robots. Galilea rushed past him, aiming to cleave at one of the bots' head, hoping it would be enough to put them out of commission. That action was soon thwarted by one of the modded minions swiping its claws at her on the side, electing a panicked parry from the warrior woman.

Caldarius dived into the group, his Energy Blade aiming to do just what Galilea had tried to, but the robots reacted in time, and dodged the swipe.

"Those things are getting quite bothersome" remarked the Kemessian in an even tone.

"As long as they don't get too threatening" replied Galilea. The dark powers within her were slowly emerging from all the fighting they had done, but so far she kept absolute control on them, allowing her to stay level-headed. "It's a five-on-three, and so far they haven't done anything remotely dangerous."

The robots were busy trying to claw at Benedict, but the Aviant used his wings in time to uplift him just outside of their range. ISIC charged back into battle, his Plasma Cannon blazing at the minions. The robots let out a snarl, and leaped back further down the hallway, avoiding the shots.

Caldarius returned to the air, and resumed his tactic of firing from above alongside Benedict, which had managed to reload his magazine. Reyna, meanwhile, marked one of the bots for death, intending for the fight not to drag on for too long.

Then, one of them jumped at the wall, and bounced back out of it, gaining momentum. The robot used said momentum to charge at Caldarius while in midair, who was taken by surprise, and took the hit in full.

The Kemessian dropped on the ground with a very loud sound, his frame landing hard on the ground and leaving a very noticeable mark on it. The robot landed nearby, on his feet, and prepared to strike at the downed shock trooper.

Reyna quickly projected a Photonic Ward over him, which halted the bot's attack, its claws bouncing off the purple shield dome. Caldarius used this respite to get back on his feet, still a little bit dazed, but not worse for wear, and dashed out of the way of another incoming strike, just as the Ward shattered.

"So much for 'remotely threatening'" snarled Caldarius. He drew out his Energy Blade, and performed flanking maneuver on the bot that just assaulted him. "No more playing around. You're going down _now_."

Once besides the modded minion, he aimed at the tail, and sliced wide. A shower of sparks rained on him, as the robot let out a pained howl, but Caldarius was already gone, his frame's thrusters taking him out of danger.

Meanwhile, Benedict went back to the ground, realizing full well _he_ wouldn't have been so lucky had the robots decided to perform a jumping attack on him. As such, he restrained himself from flying, and fought on the ground.

Thanks to ISIC and Galilea, the two other bots still hadn't breached through their formation, the shields proving to be too big an obstacle to overcome, especially when the two Battleborn relayed each other and stroke at the bots as well. Reyna was working was Benedict to actually try and take the robots down, but the third one that just arrived behind their backs threatened that strategy.

"Caldarius! Are you alright?" she called, just having heard the crash.

"I will manage" replied the Kemessian, who deftly dodged another claw swipe, before placing a Flashbang inside the robot's equivalent of a mouth. The resulting explosion stunned it for a few moments, which allowed Caldarius to dive straight to its face, and impale its eye.

The robot recoiled from the impact, before falling limp on the ground. The red dot's light went off, and soon the robot stopped moving at all.

"One hostile down" curtly said Caldarius, before dashing back to the main formation.

The two other robots, as if sensing the termination of their comrade, were backing off.

"Don't you dare run" threatened ISIC. "I am in dire need of something to brutally murder, today, and until I find your boss, you will do just fine."

The robots paid him no mind, and leapt out of the way of a Plasma Cannon's shot. Then, as quickly as they arrived, they ran back into the shadows of the nearby hallways, out of sight.

"Oh, come on" complained Benedict. "They just ran away like that?"

"Stay alert" cut Galilea. "We're not done with those things yet."

" _That you are, you heartless monsters!_ " squeaked someone the Battleborn didn't know into their com system.

"…Who are you?" asked Reyna.

" _The master of that adorable puppy you just butchered! Rex was so young, so full of life… Why did you have to kill him?_ "

"I hate this solar system" deadpanned Caldarius.

" _Wait a moment_ " said Kleese through the radio channel. " _Keyneth? Is that you?_ "

" _What did I tell you?_ " intervened Mellka. _"All. Insane._ "

"How come this guy is on our com channel, anyways?" asked Reyna.

" _I… kind of… forgot to tell you us breaking through their radio channels worked both ways_ " admitted Kleese. " _Yeah. That's it._ "

ISIC opened an audio file simulating a slow, sarcastic hand clapping.

"That could have been helpful to know…" said the Rogue leader, trying to keep her cool. "Because that means everyone in this goddamn fort knows our plan."

She did a double take, before realizing something. Something _really_ important.

"Kleese… How did you send our minions in the hangar bay, exactly?"

" _I used the radio signal to track back the room's coordinates and-Oh, crud. That means Callum now knows how to shut down the signal._ "

"That's what I thought" sighed Reyna. "This day just keep getting better and better."

" _I am forcing you to work on an com system hack program first thing after this mission, Kleese_ " said Ghalt.

"Remind me why am I working with you all, again?" tentatively asked Caldarius.

" _You will all pay for this infamy!_ " shouted Keyneth.

Reyna barely suppressed a groan.

*o*o*o*o*

Turns out, the Battleborn were only partially right. Callum indeed found a way to stop the Elite minions from storming his position. However, being locked into fight with Alani, nobody had time to cut short the radio signal. So, Callum did the next best thing.

He closed the hangar bay doors.

Alani was now busy defending a closed door of a dozen of tons, a door that was separating her from her reinforcements. She would have laughed at the irony if she wasn't busy fighting for her life, and if she wasn't tiring. Fast.

"For f**k's sake, boys, why isn't she already dead?" shouted Callum from his vantage point. "This has been going for a whole hour! _A whole fricking hour_!"

The water monk's response was launching yet another pirate into a Geyser, before pelting him with water bolts, ensuring his prompt death.

"…Nevermind" sighed Callum. "If you morons are so keen on losing to a damn fish, I will handle things myself. You!" pointed he at one of his men that wasn't dead already. "Go and prepare my mech!"

"Yessir!" shouted the man, all too happy to escape the slaughter that was taking place.

Alani immediately understood this was a bad thing. A _very_ bad one at that. Grabbing her com system, she hesitantly began speaking through it.

"Guys? I might need you to hurry up…"

*o*o*o*o*

"If only I had told my agent I would have been busy fighting robot dogs and a funny bald man in another robot, today" sighed ISIC, while the band of five sprinted in the now empty hallways, wary of another attack from the dog-minions.

"Wait" intervened Benedict. "You have an agent?"

"Why would you want to tell him that to begin with?" added Galilea.

"Well, I had to, if I wanted to enter the catch industry!" cheerfully replied ISIC. "He would have launched a filming program and forced people to pay to watch the whole thing. My sensory processor weep just by thinking of the lost income."

"… I will act as if I didn't hear anything" said Reyna, obviously confused, "and just remind you that Alani won't be able to last long if Callum grabs that mech suit."

" _You have better things to worry about!_ " shouted Keyneth's unwanted woice through the radio. " _Like the rightful retribution you earned when you murdered poor little Rex!_ "

"I will remind you your 'adorable puppy' tried to kill us" retorted Caldarius.

" _Did that justify your action, you heartless monster?_ "

" _Oooooh, boy_ " said Kleese. " _You_ really _lost it with that wire, back in the day._ "

" _Yeah, I think he might the worst nutjob we've seen yet_ " added Ghalt. " _Though that's some serious firepower his bots are packing._ "

" _Remember Geoff?_ " asked Mellka.

" _…_ _Scratch that. The second worst. Ayways, watch your back, guys. Crazy as he is, Keyneth built those things from scrap, and if he is smart enough for that, he is smart enough to lead them._ "

The _Nova_ hanged off, and the squad was once again alone. Keeping with their run, they were making good time towards Keyneth's lair, though they were still wary as to when the robots would strike again.

"I don't like this" said Galilea. "Minions don't act this smart, they either rush you or explode trying. They never bid their time."

"Note to self" said ISIC "next time I fortify myself in my evil lair in preparation for world extinction, program the minions to perform ambushes. Thank you for the idea, Galilea!"

Before anyone else could react to the Magnus' comment, one of the robots attacked. Through a wall.

The minion tore through the wall like toilet paper, and slammed into ISIC, the Magnus' frame falling to the ground before gliding across the ground, sparks flying from the action. The minion landed on its back, but quickly rolled back into position, snarling at the group.

The Battleborn, sans ISIC, immediately took formation, Galilea rushing at the robot, Caldarius and Benedict flanking it, and Reyna following Galilea, providing Shield Boosters.

"I do not like when people use my own evil plans against me. Just you wait until I manage to get back on my feet!" calmly said ISIC on the ground, calculating the power he needed to put in his thrusters to get back up as he did so.

The modified minion, of course, paid him no mind, as he was busy dodging grenades, rockets and sword swings.

"Hold still, you mutt!" uttered Galilea, the dark energy inside her beginning to show its presence, altering her voice slightly.

"Yeah, sure, the killer bot will do what ya sayin'" snarked Benedict. "You sure you don't want to ask him to go fetch as well?"

"Benedict, focus on the target" cut Reyna, not bothering to hide her dislike in that remark. "ISIC, how are you doing?"

As she asked that, the Magnus' legs lighted up, and his thrusters activated, which he used to regain balance and come back on its two feet. He then proceeded to grab the minion's tail, and to launch said minion over a wall.

"Fine now" replied the Magnus "Though you better watch yourself: my sensors picked up the second one's signal, and-"

Before he could finish that sentence, the last remaining bot emerged from a seemingly empty hallway, and charged at Reyna, howling all the while.

"S**t" cursed Reyna as she put a Priority Target beacon on her opponent, before making a tactical withdrawal, aiming for the cover granted by Galilea's shield.

Alas, the other minion woke up, and bit Galilea from behind, earning a pained yell from the armored woman. Caldarius dived in for the rescue, slamming the robot in its side, which threw it off. Galilea had dropped her shield, however, which left Reyna desperately vulnerable.

"Galaxies, I hate this system" muttered Reyna before rolling to the left, narrowly avoiding the minion's claw swipe. Benedict noticed the situation, and changed his target, hoping his rockets would have enough of an impact to slow down the robot. However, said robot, determined or at least programmed to be, turned around and charged back at Reyna.

The other minion went back to its feet, and dodged Galilea's sword swipe before rushing at Reyna, as well.

"They noticed you were the leader!" shouted Caldarius, understanding the situation instantly. "Watch out!"

"Geez, thanks for the advice!" said Reyna as she narrowly avoided another claw swipe, and then another, tiring really fast. Of course her Photonic Ward had to cool off at that exact moment. "But it would be better if those things got off me!"

"Alright" said Galilea, "I didn't want to use this, but I have no choice."

The warrior woman planted her sword in the ground, and she suddenly began to glow purple. Two ethereal, demonic looking black wings emerged from her back, and her shield, not too far away, began gently levitating back to her arm.

" ** _Here, you will only find death and suffering!_** " she shouted, in a heavily distorted voice. She then took her sword back, and swiped at the robots, despite them being far away. A Desecrate field appeared under the robots' feet, and they dropped on the floor mid-charge, howling furiously, the dark energies lashing at them.

" ** _Here is our chance_** " said the armored woman, in a far more sinister tone than her teammates were used to. " ** _Strike now!_** "

She rushed at them without waiting for her teammates, her sword ready to strike the robots down. Caldarius followed suit, his assault frame mobility allowing him to catch up. ISIC and Benedict settled for cover fire, hoping a lucky shot would incapacitate even further the robots who still had trouble recovering.

Reyna benefited from the opening, and kicked one of the robots in the head, resulting in it recoiling from the shock. Reyna then shot at her target, aiming to fill it with bullets. Despite her unloading an entire magazine, it proved surprisingly resilient, although it was clearly having difficulty operating now, judging from the sparks that periodically flew away from its body.

The Rogue Leader would have unloaded another magazine, if the second robot didn't get back up, and dashed at her. Reyna dodged, and switched place with Caldarius and Galilea, who finally reached her position.

Galilea slashed at the down robot, not giving it a moment of respite, while Caldarius fought with the other, darting around him while firing bullets in short intervals. The robot tried to claw at him, but the shock trooper was simply too fast, and effortlessly dodged all of its attacks.

Galilea was ready to perform the finishing strike on the damaged bot, when it did something unexpected, however. It raised up its tail, a small spark glowing out of it, and launched it at Galilea. The tail revealed itself to be far longer than what was immediately apparent, the most of it actually hidden in the robot's frame, and enrolled itself on Galilea's sword arm, before releasing an electrical discharge.

She let out an inhuman scream, and released her grip on her sword, which the robot promptly took advantage of, as he released its tail before lunging at Galilea. She had enough time to place her shield in front of her, but in seconds she was on the ground, with a heavy robot clawing at her shield in an attempt to reach her.

ISIC's shots focused on the minion, the Plasma Cannon charging before releasing a powerful blast, which threw the robot off balance. Galilea got up and grabbed back her sword, before the minion got back up. She promptly slashed at it, but the robot managed to get back on his feet before tanking the inevitable hit with its side, leaving the encounter hurt, but not downed.

" **Damn you!** " shouted Galilea, anger rising in her, while she tried again to slice the minion, only for it to fail as it dodged every swipe.

The other robot, meanwhile, performed a faint, which resulted in Caldarius rushing in with a Gravitic Burst, only for him to find nothing. The robot leaped out of the way, and rushed at Reyna and Benedict.

"Oh, s**t" said both of them in unison. They rolled in opposite directions, leaving the robot to pounce on the ground. Galilea, sensing the opportunity, bashed her own opponent with her shield, stunning the robot, before using the shield to push it towards the other one. They both went to the ground because of this. Reyna, being used to command troops and devise tactics, noticed the golden shot they could have.

"Benedict! Unload your biggest rocket, _now_!"

Benedict complied, launching a Boomsday rocket in his launcher, and immediately firing it at short distance. Upon seeing the rocket, the four other Battleborn took cover, ISIC and Galilea raising their shields, Caldarrius and Benedict flying back up in the air, and Reyna rolling out of the explosion radius.

The rocket was dead-on, the blast centered on the two modded robots. The Battleborn covered their eyes, before looking back at the explosion's aftermath.

One of the robots was burst apart, its metallic casing melted at some points. The other, while still working, barely did so, sparks flying out of its head, his metal frame being quite in bad shape as well. Knowing when to call quits, the minion promptly tried to come back where it came from, namely the hallway behind Reyna, hoping to escape before being put out of commission.

"Oh, no you don't" muttered Reyna, now beyond pissed off by the robots.

She slammed her command gauntlet in the robot's head mid-course, sending it barreling on the ground, before reaching for her pistol, placing her foot firmly on the downed robot, and firing at its head repeatedly, unloading a whole magazine before stopping. The robot shut down soon after.

"Damn, that felt good" sighed the Rogue Leader.

Seeing the battle was over, the Battleborn relaxed, Benedict and Caldarius dropping on the ground. Galilea took sharp, long breathes, aiming to calm herself and to force the dark energies to hold off for now. A few seconds later, it worked.

"Ugh" said she, her voice resuming her normal tone. "I feel sick."

"Still. Nice thinking" curtly complimented Caldarius, straight to the point. "What you did probably saved us a lot of time. And Reyna's life."

"Yeah, thanks for that" replied the Rogue leader. "I owe you one."

" _That's very nice and dandy_ " interrupted Kleese, " _but while you're talking, Keyneth is busy escaping using the backdoor. If you don't want us all to be hunted by a raving lunatic across the whole system, I suggest you hurry up._ "

"I call dibs" immediately said ISIC. "Nobody humiliates me like I'm a second grade AI and get away with it."

The Battleborn proceeded to track his position, using ISIC's sensors. Thankfully for them, Keyneth being an old man, and not benefiting from something like Kleese's battle throne, he didn't make it very far before the Battleborn caught up with him.

 **Keyneth**

 _Having a very bad day right now_

"You will never catch me alive!" shouted the insane programmer.

"Great!" replied ISIC, before shooting him in the face with a fully charged plasma shot. Keyneth's skull broke under the impact, and he fell lifelessly on the ground. "I planned to kill you anyways!"

"Well" deadpanned Reyna, "that was anticlimactic."

"At least _he_ was easy to kill" said Caldarius. "Those things he built from scratch weren't. And I don't want to do a repeat performance of my crash landing into the ground."

The Battleborn stopped talking, and resumed their run towards the hangar bay, and their target: Callum.

*o*o*o*o*

Alani stood, exhausted, in front of a whole carpet of dead and unconscious pirates. She was panting, her hands resting on her legs. She could feel that her powers were beginning to have diminishing returns, and that when Callum, who smartly stayed out of reach, would grab his mech suit, she wouldn't have a chance. Alas, the remaining pirates opted for a change of strategy, and decided to stall her until their boss brought in the trump card, and exhausted as she was, she wouldn't be able to do a thing.

She looked behind her, at the closed door behind which hid her reinforcements, and the refugees. If she fell here, the Battleborn would lose ay tactical advantage they could have gained, and the refugees' fate would be dire indeed.

"Alright, fish woman" taunted Callum. "You have been a complete waste of my time and my troops so far, but I'm willing to be nice for once. If you surrender now, I promise your death will be quick and painless."

Alani's only answer was to flip him the middle finger, and throw a water bolt at him, which he dodged.

"Alright then. Slow and painful it is, then."

As if on cue, a loud and repeating thumping sound was heard across the hangar bay, each time becoming louder and louder, until finally its origin showed up.

Entering from the hangar bay's side door, was a giant mecha, all black in color. Its paint showed signs of rust here and there, but the weapons, which included an enormous cannon on its left arm, and a Gatling gun on the right, were perfectly fine, judging by their pristine condition. One of Callum's men was sitting inside the cockpit, but he quickly left the place for his boss once the mecha suit was in range. Callum jumped inside the cockpit, before turning the mecha around to face Alani.

"You shouldn't have come here, fish woman."

*o*o*o*o*

The Battleborn rushed through the hallway, spotting the hangar bay's door in the distance. Two of Callum's men were blocking their way, but a short Flashbang barrage followed by Galilea cutting a way through took care of that.

The five emerged in the hangar bay, Callum's remaining troops apparently being too shocked by their appearance to yell at their boss, who was busy fighting with Alani, that they just arrived.

The Battleborn took advantage of this, and proceeded to take down the pirates that were near position, the poorly-trained men falling like flies. One of the pirates, seeing this, regained his composure and shout at his boss.

"Sir! The Battleborn are here!"

The black mecha used his cannon to swat away Alani like a fly, who landed on the right wall of the room quite loudly, before falling back on the ground. Callum then turned around, a look of pure contempt on his face.

"Valeria. How nice of you to join us."

 **Callum Mc Erwan**

 _Cruel. Ruthless. Bald._

"Callum" replied Reyna, shooting through one of the pirates' skull with her pistol. "How nice of you to finally give me an excuse to put you-

She never finished that sentence, as Callum suddenly shot a shrapnel cluster at her through the mecha's cannon. Reyna, seeing this, rolled to the left, narrowly avoiding the blast, which left a cluster of small impacts in the wall that was just behind her.

"Hey! Shooting down the talking guy is the hero's thing!"

"You? A hero?"

Callum shot again at the Rogue Leader, who once again rolled out of the way. The other Battleborn were wrapping things up, the remnant of Callum's forces quickly disappearing.

"Look at yourself. You gained your position by killing, backstabbing and stealing everyone that opposed you. You call that heroic?"

"At least I don't threaten to sell people into slavery to the Lorrians!"

Reyna shot a Priority Target beacon at the mecha, which resulted in Benedict's activating his Hawkeye homing rockets, aiming to bring down Callum in one strike.

Unfortunately for the Battleborn, Callum merely raised one of the mecha's arms, and blocked the rocket barrage, resulting in measly damage.

"Oh yeah, because your new Jennerit pals shied away from that one."

"I must tell you I actually _was_ a slave" interrupted Caldarius, the 'Jennerit' of the group.

He finished slicing his opponent's throat, before seeing there was no pirate left, which allowed the Battleborn to focus on Callum.

"I must also tell you I earned my freedom by ruthlessly killing every Thrall that aimed to bring me back to jail, as well as by participating in Rendain's downfall."

He took to the airs, and began firing from above at Callum, his thrusters allowing him to move around Callum without giving him a chance to actually retaliate.

"I must also tell you that, before my escape, I fought in the Jennerit fighting pits, and in their wars as a suicide shock trooper. I survived."

He descended right in front of Callum's cockpit, and dropped a Flashbang on him.

"Needless to say, I hate slavery. And slavers, too."

He flew back, escaping from the Flashbang's range, and letting Callum deal with being blinded for a few seconds.

The other Battleborn wasted no time, and ISIC began raining his plasma shots on Callum, though the pirate lord had the good reaction of turning his mecha's back on the group's attack while he was blinded, ensuring his temporary safety.

However, Galilea rushed at the mecha's back, aiming to apply one of the most important things Ghalt's ever taught her

 _If you see a cable that your enemy don't want you to see, cut it_.

While far more down-to-earth than what the Arbiters of Being ever taught her, it had also proved surprisingly useful, and if the giant, glowing steel cable emerging from the back of the mecha was any indication, it was going to prove itself just as useful now.

With a battle cry, the Wraith of Bliss jumped in the air, taking her sword behind her head, before bringing it back down in her descent, aiming at the cable.

The sword bounced back from an invisible forced field, escaping Galilea's hands, and she landed on the ground before darting back to recover it.

In the short time all of this happened, Callum recovered from the flash, and turned around, immediately spinning his Gatling, which began firing an obscene amount of ammunition, forcing the Battleborn to protect themselves by getting behind the hangar bay's various covers.

"Reyna!" shouted Galilea over the gunfire. "We won't take him down without a plan! Charging head front would be suicide! And his back is protected by a force field!"

"Yeah, that sucks" replied Reyna. "I must admit I didn't expect the fatass to get some upgrades on his mech. ISIC, you think you can do what you did with the ships?"

"I could" replied the Magnus, "but I really don't want to see this frame ripped to shreds. You know, because thanks to Kleese, it's the only one I will ever have."

"That won't happen if you fry his circuits."

"An overload caused by repeated powerful plasma shots targeted on the same point? That could work, and would allow you meatbags to kill the bald monkey. Alright, I'm game!"

As he said that, their enemy decided to fire shrapnel clusters at the pillar the Rogue Leader was hiding behind, which promptly made it crumble. Reyna cursed, before running at the nearest one still standing, avoiding the Gatling shots.

"Wait a moment" she said through the group's radio. "I'll need Benedict and Caldarius in position for that to work. I suspect Callum is smart enough to have a built-in failsafe. If we miss our shot, we're toast."

"Understood" replied Caldarius. "Where is the objective?"

Reyna scanned their surroundings, seeing a small platform way up their heads hanging by cables.

"Reach that platform when I give you the signal."

"Stop talking like I'm not even there!" raged Callum, who decided enough was enough, and charged at Reyna's hiding position, aiming to crush her.

"Oh, for f**k's sake!" shouted the Valkyrie, as she dodged the assault. "Galilea! Stall him! ISIC, do your thing! Benedict, Caldarius, to the vantage point, now!"

At once, the squad went into motion, Benedict and Caldarius flying up, while Galilea charged at the mecha, hoping her shield would withstand the impacts of the mecha. ISIC, meanwhile, went into a slow walk, while powering up all of his battle systems.

"Please stand by for your imminent and needlessly cruel death."

Reyna applied an overshield to Galilea, just in time for the warrior woman to tank a hit from Callum. She merely recoiled a bit, the overshield absorbing all the damage, and locked her blade against the cannon arm, panting from the effort but holding her ground.

That's when ISIC's frame emitted a little 'ding'.

"Hi! I hate you."

ISIC fired all of its weapons at once on Callum, the power of the Omega Strike proving to be strong enough to lock Callum into place, allowing Galilea to disengage and assault the mecha at another angle, though the force field still protected the most exposed parts.

However, ISIC's incessant barrage of attacks, which was only further amplified by a Priority Target Reyna threw, soon began to show its effects, namely, Callum's mecha's force field began to take more time in relocating power to protect Callum, its blue glow lingering longer and longer with each attack.

Callum apparently realized what the Battleborn were trying to do, and proceeded to his B plan.

Using the hidden thrusters under the mecha's legs to disengage in the opposite corner of the room, rendering moot the Battleborn's efforts.

"You won't take me down with a trick like that, Valeria" taunted the pirate lord, before beginning to charge up his cannon, with what appeared to be something else than shrapnel. Something far more dangerous.

"Guys!" shouted Benedict, recognizing the telltale energy signature from his time in the UPR Demolition Corps. "He's charging a railgun shot! And he's aiming at you!"

Galilea immediately took action, and placed herself in the trajectory of the shot, which Callum fired after a short while. She raised her shield just in time to intercept it, which forced to recoil a few meters back. Callum used the opportunity to shoot a shrapnel shot just after, this time aiming at the exposed Benedict and Caldarius.

The shot was too far away to do any real impact, but the two air fighters jumped from the platform, lest they took an unnecessary hit.

"That's weird" pondered ISIC while keeping firing just over Galilea's head. "How come this guy, who looks as dumb as a coconut, has a cannon that switches from energy-based projectiles to shrapnel in less than a second? I want one of those!"

"Don't you have anything better to do?" reprimanded Caldarius, who was busy avoiding shots from the Gatling.

"I do, actually! Namely, recharching my batteries. I can't keep up the slaughterfest any longer. Guess we're all going to die."

As he said that, ISIC dropped the Omega Strike mode, not able to maintain it any longer. Callum saw that, and used the opportunity to charge another railgun shot, this time taking longer in order to build more power, seeing that he had the opportunity judging from the distance separating him and the Battleborn.

"Scatter, everyone!" shouted Reyna. "He won't be able to hit us all if we do!"

"You're the only one I want to hit, Valeria" darkly muttered Callum, aiming solely at Reyna, before pressing the fire button.

Or rather, he tried to. Because he suddenly found it very hard to breathe, being inside a giant water bubble.

Standing up from where she had been thrown earlier, stood a snckering Alani, her tattoos glowing faintly in the half-lit room.

"Gotcha"

 **Alani**

 _F**k your sandcastle_

"Erm, guys?" she said, looking apparently tired, "you should try to kill him now. I can't hold this for much-"

As she said that, the water bubble dissipated, and Callum's mecha armor fell back to the ground in a loud crash.

"-longer. Nevermind."

"Kick the son of b**h while he's down!" shouted Reyna, charging with her pistol blazing, and the rest of the Battleborn plus Alani followed suit.

Callum tried to get back on his feet, unharmed from the whole bubble ordeal, but once he was so, he was met with a raging Galilea, waving her sword at the cockpit, while Benedict and Caldarius were taking potshots from behind. Reyna provided support to her teammates while ISIC just fired his plasma cannon in Callum's face continuously. Alani likewise fired water bolts at the mecha, tired but intent on finishing this battle once and for all, and thus giving it her all.

Soon enough, what the Battleborn were waiting for happened: the force field broke. Under the barrage of attacks

"Oh, sweet mother of-" tried to say Callum, before being interrupted by a Flashbang thrown at him, which resulted in him getting blinded a second time.

Caldarius immediately went to the back of the mecha before Callum could do a thing about it, while Galilea, understanding Caldarius' strategy, did likewise.

Benedict unloaded a whole magazine of rockets on Callum's mecha, aiming to hit sensible spots that might break from the assault, while ISIC Plasma charged in, and began trying to hit Callum's face with his mechanical fist, given he had lost all of his Plasma Cannon's charge during his Omega Strike, which proved harder than expected given the height of the cockpit.

Reyna, for her part, was using the break from the action patch up Alani with a well-placed Shield Booster, while devising their next move.

"Hey, kid. Think you can do that bubble thing again?"

"Sorry, I used almost all of my reserves in that Geyser. Give me an hour or two and a water tank, and I'm your monk."

"Yeah, but we don't have that much time. Callum's forces across the whole sector are no doubt on their way here. If we don't beat the jerkass here and now, we're done for."

"I wish I could have helped more…" sighed dejectedly Alani.

Reyna shot the water monk a sympathetic look.

"Don't fret about it, you held up those dumbass for a whole hour by yourself. That's awesome!"

"Reyna! Help would be appreciated!" shouted Galilea as she tore down a cable on the mecha's back with her sword, causing a shower of sparks to rain harmlessly down on her, while Caldarius did the same with another one.

Callum, in the meantime, had recovered from the flash, and noticed his Gatling was no longer powered up. He cursed, before swatting away an angry ISIC with his now near-useless weapon, before turning around to fire a shrapnel load at the two blade-wielding Battleborn.

Caldarius flew up in time, but Galilea didn't escape the attack, and took it face full.

"Urrrrgh" she spat, falling on the ground, her hands still griping her sword and her shield, some blood spilling from her mouth.

"Hey, a**hole!" shouted Benedict, infuriated at seeing one of the few people on the _Nova_ that didn't hated him alright going down. "Take a load of this!"

Benedict shouted his last Boomsday missile, which, the shot being a short distance away from the mecha, and Callum turning around just in time to see it coming, resulted in a dead-on impact, the bright, hot orange blast lighting the area, and the mecha actually falling on the ground, Callum's cockpit facing the roof.

Which, of course, was bad news for him, seeing as a now fully corrupted Galilea, wings of dark matter getting out of her back, and her voice distorted in a demonic and warped version of itself, was charging at the very exposed place.

Callum immediately pressed a red button at his side, which resulted in the cockpit getting ejected from the mecha, before Callum leaped from it in mid-air, and landed away from Galilea's murderous spree, and near Alani and Reyna.

Alani immediately assumed a martial stance, while Reyna pointed her pistol at him, but he managed to pull out two pistols of his own and pointed them at the two woman. Everyone in the room stopped moving.

"Make a move" taunted Callum to the Battleborn. "Come on, I dare all of you. Make a move, and the two ladies here get their brains out of their skulls."

"You should just surrender, asshat" snarked back Reyna. "You're surrounded six to one. If you shoot at us, you're dead."

"If _you_ shoot at me, you're dead too, Valeria" replied Callum. "Looks like it's a draw."

"Like h**l it is" replied Reyna. "Surrender now, or I fire."

"You're right" said Callum, actually surprising Reyna. "It isn't a draw. I actually happen to have one trick up my sleeve left."

"And what would that be?" asked derisively ISIC. "Another mech suit? A teleport device? You're bluffing."

"I have a contract with Executive Executors."

Reyna and Alani's eyes both widened at those words, for the exact same reasons.

"Roan!" shouted Callum.

In an instant, the room flashed white, no thanks to Caldarius this time, and in a few seconds, Callum had disengaged from the Battleborn, his shotgun his hand, and at his side stood a snake-like man, with a prosthetic arm and a tentacle for members, his face hid under a hood, and wielding two different but equally as sharp-looking kamas.

"Good day, fellas!"

 **Pendakka 'Pendles' Lakonna**

 _Loves to snake around_

"Real sorry about this, mates, but I'm going to kill you ri- wait, wait, wait" said he, his eyes opening a little more. "Alani? What in tarnation are you doing here, love?"

"What are _you_ doing here, Pendles?" replied back the water monk. "I thought you were on Bliss!"

"Well, obviously, I got hired by this fella over here" said the Roan while pointing at Callum, "to defend the outpost. Although I didn't know you were here!"

"It's not like she has been busy killing people left and right for an hour" snickered Caldarius.

"Well, I _was_ taking my lunch, thank you very much" replied Pendles, offended. "If the situation was that bad, you would have called me on my radio anyways" said he to Callum.

"About that" replied the pirate lord. "Everyone is dead or unconscious, and they hacked the radio signals. I couldn't risk opening a channel just to warn you. That would have ruined the element of surprise."

"This situation is absolutely surreal" deadpanned Galilea.

"Tell me about it" said Benedict, equally deadpan.

"Huh, yeah" said sheepishly the assassin to Callum. "That one might be ruined, now, ain't it?"

"Oh, damn it… you can turn invisible at will! We can still win this fight!"

"You're still outnumbered two-to-six" reminded Reyna. "You've already lost."

"Like hell we have!" retorted Callum. I hired the best hitman in the universe for a reason, and we're going to kill you right now."

"No" replied Pendles, which made Callum turn his head towards him so fast, one who would care might fear he snapped his neck.

"Excuse me, I think I heard something strange. What did you just say?"

"I said 'no'. If you had read my contract carefully, you would have noticed a 'Non-accepted targets' section that, funnily enough, says explicitly the house will never attempt at said targets' lives, possessions or reputation. And miss Alani here is the only person in that list. Too bad, but you should have looked harder."

"I paid you an absolutely ludicrous sum of credits to hire you" said calmly Callum, although his voice grew higher and higher with each word. "And now I hear you're quitting because of _one goddamn woman?_ "

"Yeah, ya see, the woman in question is my doctor. As in, if she dies, I lose all of my legs and my last arm, and I become jobless. So, yeah, sorry, not sorry. Don't worry, though, you paid for the insurance, so your fee will be repaid in less than 48 standard hours."

Callum's face became redder than Rath's swords, the temple on his forehead threatening to explode. He immediately took his shotgun in hand, and pointed it at Pendles' head.

"F**k you!"

The pirate lord pulled the trigger, but Pendles dove under the double-barreled weapon, slithering under Callum's legs before rising back and putting his kamas in his back.

"Say goodbye to your refund, jerk" said the Roan, while Callum merely cried in pain as Pendles took his kamas back, which resulted in the pirate's vest to have some reds smears appear where the kamas had hit.

ISIC decided that enough was enough, and blasted Callum's head with a charged plasma shot while the target was busy agonizing on the floor. Callum dropped lifelessly on the floor after that hit.

Silence reigned inside the hangar bay, before Benedict broke it.

"So… we're done?"

Reyna shook her head, as if wanting to dismiss the incredibly quick and pathetic death Callum just had right now.

"Well, unless there's reinforcements on the way, we're good to go."

"Well, that was nice meeting all of you people" said Pendles, "but I'm without a contract, now. Unless one of you wants someone dead, I'm out."

"Wait, Pendles!" shouted Alani.

"Uh? _You_ want to sign a contract? The target must have _really_ pissed you off, love."

"Yes! I mean, no, but… Nevermind. I'm joining the Battleborn, and I thought, maybe you could join too."

"The Battleborn? So you were here when Rendain died I take it?" asked the Roan to the rest of the group.

The five Battleborn nodded by the affirmative.

"Now that I think about it, I recognize you" pointed he at Reyna. "And you too, actually" said he to Benedict. "Never thought I would find you out there, boss."

"Boss?" asked Galilea. "How comes you know half of us, anyways?"

"I met him when Akopos was still a planet" replied Alani. "I am his doctor. He wants no one else but me to heal him."

"He worked for the Rogues for a long time, along with his own business. He left some years ago, although I never thought I would see you again so soon, Pendles."

"Yeah, sorry man" said Benedict, "but I don't recognize your face. At all."

"How come? You were my first customer!" said incredulously Pendles. "That MSCB officer, remember?"

Benedict instantly paled at the words.

"Benedict" said Galilea, incredulously, "you hired someone to kill one of your commanding officers?"

"No! No, no it was… It was just a huge misunderstanding. I said I wanted the guy to die while drunk, and he" pointed he at Pendles, "took it literally."

"Anyways" said Reyna, not willing to go into the subject further. "You never told us your answer, Pendles. We still need more people to save this system from the Varelsi. Are you in?"

"Tell you what" replied the Roan, "I'm willing to give it a try. Though I'm not going to do it for free. I have a business to run after all!"

"Fine by me. We'll talk about your payment once we save the refugees."

Nobody said a word for a moment.

"Damn it, the refugees!" she shouted.

"My kids!" shouted Benedict.

" _Yeah, that might be a good idea_ " said Ghalt through the radio. " _Oh, and Alani, Pendles, welcome aboard._ "

"Wait, Captain" asked Benedict. "You heard everything?"

" _Yup. Everything. And let's say I can't wait to hear the details about that MSCB's officer death. I expect you in my office before tomorrow morning._ "

"Yes, sir" sighed the Aviant.

" _Anyways_ " continued Ghalt, " _great job everyone. The frigate the UPR lent us is on its way, and we're going to land shortly as well. You've all earned some well-deserved rest._ "

 **Mission Complete**


	13. Chapter 12 : Alani : Welcome aboard

**I am alive!**

 **Darren Xirias here, everyone, and sorry for the** ** _really_** **long wait. I hit a particularly nasty writer's block on this chapter, and it combined with both the Christmas/New Year holidays and the exam rush before it, and** ** _then_** **, my computer had the gall to die on me when I came back from said holidays. Needless to say, I was quite peeved.**

 **Anyways, fear not, dear readers, for the wait is over! Behold, chapter 13 of Aftermath! One of the reasons this one took so much time is because I also went a little overboard with ot ^^' Initially, I had planned for Alani and Pendles to meet the faction leaders and talk a little bit. Now... They basically get to meet almost all of the crew. And writig twenty+ different characters in the same scene is** ** _hard_** **, let me tell you.**

 **When will next chapter come out? you may ask. And to that, I answer : Soon... Hopefully (Soon...Hopefully is a trademark of Darren Xirias Corp, please do not steal, failure to comply will result in the arrival of a Jennerit strike team to 'take care of you'). Seriously though, next chapter is actually already partially written (spoiler : it's Benedict and his kids like I promised three chapters ago), given that I used it to wait for my block to pass, but given that I am now in the middle of looking for an internship... Yeah, I'm not promising anything anymore XD**

 **Anyways, I'll stop bothering you. On with the story! And don't forget : R &R!**

 ***o*o*o*o***

 _Alani: Welcome aboard_

The water monk sighed, finally being able to sit and just not fight for her life after an hour of grueling battles. She was currently sitting inside one of the _Nova_ 's shuttles, alongside Pendles, Galilea and Reyna. Caldarius and ISIC took another one, while Benedict had taken off with the UPR frigate, wanting to have some alone time with his children, who didn't have clearance to board the _Nova_.

Thankfully, the ship's captain had been one of the Aviants Benedict's actions back on Madan saved, which meant he had taken in Benedict for the flight, happy to help.

Alani drank from yet another water bottle avidly, glad to resource her energy as well as her inner water stocks, already important for every living being but even more for an aquamancer. At her side, Pendles was sitting in relaxing fashion, his body frame laid back on the shuttle's chair, his eyes closed in contentment. Galilea, who had taken off her helmet, letting everyone see her face, was busy sharpening her sword with a whetstone, the alloy not liking what the numerous metallic frames it had to pierce did to it. Reyna, for her part, was talking alongside Ghalt on her private radio channel, or so Alani understood. Every now and then, the water monk could hear some snippets of the conversation.

"I am not Benedict's babysitter, Trevor… Yes, I know it wasn't a smart thing to let him board that frigate… they want my head too, you know… What was I supposed to do? He just found out two of his kids are alive! You wanted me to stop him?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line, until Ghalt something else to Reyna that visibly made her blush.

" _That_ was a low blow, Trevor. You know it… For the last time, I didn't know it was Montana's personal stash. How was I supposed to guess his booze was _that_ strong?..."

Alani had the feeling she was listening in a conversation that was turning a bit too private for her taste. Luckily for her, Galilea apparently noticed, and stopped working on her sword to talk.

"Don't worry" she joked, "we tend to use our comm channels for more… important matters."

Reyna, meanwhile, was beginning to rant about a 'buttload of embarrassing pics', which mined the warrior woman's point.

"So…" said an embarrassed Galilea, "changing topics. That was a really impressing display of power, down here. I had to admit, when we first saw you, I thought you wouldn't fit in, but now…"

She let out a small chuckle.

"Well, I no longer think that. I didn't know some Eldrid could control water like that."

Pendles smirked a bit at that, knowing full well the truth behind Alani's powers (less monastic discipline, and more conveniently placed nanomachines), but didn't interrupt. Alani fidgeted nervously, not used to being praised upfront like that.

"Oh, that was nothing" she said with a nervous laugh. "My people had to learn how to control water, seeing our world was made of about ninety percent of the stuff."

Galilea's face darkened, noticing full well Alani's use of the past tense.

"I am sorry for your loss" said she simply. "Akopos, was it? A shame. My teachers told me it was a marvelous place. I would have loved to see it one day."

"That it was" said Alani with a sad smile. "That it was."

The shuttle remained silent, with the exception of Reyna's curses at Ghalt occasionally cutting through the air. After a minute of this though, Pendles decided he had enough, and rekindled the conversation.

"So, I heard I wasn't the first professional killer you hired aboard this shape. I am wounded" said he in a mocked hurt tone. "I would have thought the Battleborn would have thought of little old me to kill our friendly neighborhood dictator, after all."

"Oh, Reyna did mention you, now that I think about it" said Galilea, "but the list of people wanting to kill Rendain personally was a bit too long, you see. We might have had problems hiring a paid killer when almost half the ship wanted to kill him."

"Not surprising I guess" shrugged Pendles. "I suppose your mates doing it for free was good enough. Though I bet they couldn't have assassinated him as _I_ could have."

"Given the Jennerit spymistress tried to do so for decades, I think even _you_ would have had problems."

Pendles stared at her for a few moments, the words sinking in, and with them, their implications.

"The spymistress is working with us?"

"She's part of high command, actually" replied Galilea.

"Alright" said a determined Pendles. "Now I need to join your little party."

Alani rolled her eyes, though with a faint smile on her face, bemused by Pendles' antics.

"What happened to you being the 'universe's best assassin', Pendakka?"

"I am, thank you very much, love" replied Pendles without pause. "But I'm not the best spy in the universe. Yet."

"Deande might not like to share her trade's secrets, though" chuckled Galilea. "She _is_ a spy, after all."

"Wait, you thought I was going to ask for her permission?"

Galilea and Alani stared at Pendles, surprised he was being asked this question, before the Roa laughed heartily.

"Oh, the look on your faces, people! That one works every single time."

"Pendles!" cried an outraged Alani. "I told you to stop doing this kind of jokes!"

The snake-man stopped laughing, though he still let out a chuckle here and then.

"I know, I know, love. It's driving people away from me, makes me somewhat antisocial, I know the drill. But honestly, if you had the opportunity to mess with people's heads every so often, you _wouldn't_ do it?"

"No, I wouldn't!"

"Your loss, then."

Alani fumed at this, holding herself back to strangle her annoying friend, while Galilea merely sighed.

"Great, as if this ship wasn't animated enough."

Reyna, meanwhile, stopped talking through her comm, and clapped her hands once to gain everybody else's attention.

"Alright, Caldarius and ISIC already boarded, and we'll do the same in about less than a minute. Seatbelts, everyone!"

Knowing the shuttle boardings usually involved a lot of shaking, the rest of the passengers fastened their seatbelts, sitting upright on their seats. Thirty seconds later, the shuttle began to shake violently, and stopped just as suddenly. The small mechanical sound of the motors stopped, and the shuttle door began opening, revealing the Nova's boarding bay, as well as Kleese, Ghalt and Deande waiting for them

"Hey, guys. Look who I brought back" joked Reyna, pointing at the two new recruits.

"Excellent work, Reyna" congratulated Ghalt. "You and your team did an awesome job."

"Yeah, thanks. You will all wait until this evening for the debrief, though. I'm _done_ for. Mellka better have saved me a shot" said groggily the Rogue leader, the exhaustion finally letting its presence known.

"You will have to see that with her. So. Anyways" tried Ghalt to get back on track. "With that said, Pendles, Alani, I'm glad and honored to meet you, and to have you on board."

"Indeed" said Deande. "Your help will be most needed in the times to come. We are truly thankful for your presence."

"Heh, no need to praise me" dismissed Pendles. "I'm just here because I'm paid and I know a bunch of people here. Sure, helping you people saving the universe, and all that palooza, is a nice bonus, though."

"It's always wonderful knowing we have such _noble_ souls on board" snarked Kleese.

"I'm only doing what's right, sir" said Alani, smiling nervously. "I can't thank you enough to have given me this opportunity. I think I can finally make a difference on a global scale, and that… That means a lot to me."

Ghalt nodded sympathetically, understanding the implications behind Alani's apparently benign sentence: that she felt guilty for not doing enough to protect her world.

"Don't worry, as long as you're willing, you will have a place here in the Battleborn. Speaking of, I should take you on the tour! Benedict is still not here, so before he comes back, I can show you around the _Nova_."

" _Hello, new people. I'm Nova. Nice to meet you._ "

The two new Battleborn were startled by the Magnus' holographic face's sudden appearance, before realizing they were in no danger.

"Well, hi Nova! Nice to meet you too!" cheerfully said Alani.

" _Finally, someone with manners on this ship. Kleese, why can't you be nice like that to me?_ "

"Nova is just as much a part of the crew as we are" said Ghalt while Kleese entered an argument with Nova. "Without her, we wouldn't be able to move around Solus at all. Damn lucky to have her. Oh, and unlike almost all other Magnuses, she became self-conscious, but not insane. Much. So you don't have to worry about being killed by airlifting."

" _Unless one of you tries play dubstep on this ship. If you do, all bets are off. Just so you know!"_ cheerfully said Nova.

"Meh, fair enough" shrugged Pendles.

"Dubstep?" asked an intrigued Alani.

"Some 'cousin' of her. A yellow, boxy, one-wheeled robot of a really outdated model. He always tried to create his own dubstep hits. Nova was _really_ affected by this."

"Seems a little bit… Extreme, don't you think?" asked Alani.

"I've met the guy. It is _not_." Ghalt shuddered. "Galaxies, sometimes I still hear it…"

Then, remembering he had two new recruits to show around, he shook his head, and resumed his introduction.

"Anyways. What your job will consist of, I'll let you see with your faction representatives later today. For rooming arrangements, you can bunk with others from your faction, or together, given you're apparently close friends. We can take care of that later as well. Right now, allow me to introduce the rest of the crew. You all know me of course, and you know Reyna as well."

The Rogue Commander waved lazily at that.

"The other two people in this room are Deande, Spymistress and Acting Ruler of the Jennerit Empire, and Gunnar Kleese, former CEO of Minion Robotics, and representative of the LLC on board.

"Once again, a pleasure to meet you" bowed slightly Deande. "I know my people don't really have good press with you, Alani, but I nonetheless present you my sincerest apologies for what happened with your world, and hope we can work with each other well in the future."

"Oh, don't worry" quickly said Alani. "I know you were trying to backstab Rendain all this time. Whatever you did, I know it was for the good cause. And since Rendain bit it…"

"Thank you" said Deande, letting out a small sigh of relief. "Not everyone was as accepting as you were, in my first days onboard. I'm glad to see you are willing to forgive me for what I had to do."

"Hello. Nice to meet you" said Kleese to Pendles while Deande and Alani were talking. "Mr Pendles, was it? I would like to have a word with you, in private."

"Oh?" said Pendles, raising his eyebrow. "Well then, mate, you know that time is money, and my time ain't cheap, do you?"

"Rest assured" chuckled sinisterly Kleese, "that is not going to be a problem."

"Is Kleese planning an assassination attempt?" asked noncommittally Reyna.

"Kleese" interrupted Ghalt, "you know what I think of assassination attempts, don't you?"

"Assassination? You dim-witted fools! I wanted to ask him some PR tips. His agency is one of the most bankable names in the system, and he is the sole employee. That stuff interests me, as CEO!"

"*cough cough* _Former_ CEO *cough cough*" 'coughed' Deande. Kleese glared at her, buy didn't say anything.

"…Not what I was expecting, for sure, but if you want some PR tips, well, it's your money after all" shrugged Pendles.

"That it is" cut an annoyed Ghalt. "There should be most of the crew inside the mess hall. Ready to meet them?"

The two new recruits merely nodded, and followed Ghalt inside the mess hall, ready to meet their new teammates.

*o*o*o*o*

To say the welcoming party was loud would have been an understatement: it's the Battleborn we are talking about, and with the likes of Montana, Boldur, Whiskey Foxtrot, Mellka, Oscar Mike, El Dragon and Orendi, any gathering ought to be interesting, to say the least. This one was no different.

Currently, Pendles was busy meeting the rest of the Rogues again, much to their pleasure, seeing as they didn't expect the Roa to join their band again anytime soon, giving his line of work and lone wolf attitude.

"Well, I'll be damned" said Foxtrot while pouring himself another pint of Ekkuni beer down his throat (he would have taken some of Montana's root beer, but somehow the giant Aplian managed to make stronger booze than the best Ekkuni dwarves, much to Boldur's bewilderment). "Look who finally decided to get out of his dump! Did you miss us so much?"

"Come on, Foxie, you know you're my favorite unkillable clone this side of the last star" said Pendles while punching him playfully in the elbow. "Still kicking ass and taking names, I see. How ya been?"

"That's what _I_ should ask you, you overgrown snake! I know you're supposed to be stealthy, but come on! Not even a Holo-Net address? How's a man supposed to hire you?"

"For the last time" said Reyna while sitting at the Rogues' table, drink in hand, "Foxtrot, I said no to assassination attempts on Kleese. He is an ally, and you don't go hiring hitmen to murder your allies."

"You're no fun, Boss" grumbled Whisky while grabbing another pint. "Not too long ago, you would have paid half the fee, you know?"

"No, I most certainly wouldn't have" tried to lie Reyna.

"Yes you would have" snarked Shayne back while digging her burger. "Big F is right, though. Long time no see Pendles."

"Hey, Pendles, Pendles, Pendles, Pendles, where ya been, huh? Huh? Where ya been? I didn't see you, and that was sad, cause I have like six eyes and I see a lot of things like the mustard of doom in the kitchen and the corneas of the toilets, and where ya been you good for nothing snake, sorry I love you please don't be mad at me but seriously where ya been?" said a _very_ excited Orendi, jumping around the place, not shooting Chaos Bolts at everything only because Reyna promised her a lollipop is she stayed as calm as she could (she was still a child after all).

Pendles expertly pushed aside the jumping Varimorph, while managing to ruffle her hair, which she apparently liked. That didn't stop her from harassing a nearby Kelvin with a spoon soon afterwards, persuaded the ice golem was made of ice-cream.

"Hi, Pendles!" waved Toby, shyly. "Long time no see! Huh, you do remember me, right? I mean it's all right if you don't. I'm sure there's a lot of people more interesting than me around, and…"

"Awwww, Tobes" said Pendles while siting next to the Finiscan. "Of course I remember you. I mean, we did raid a fleet of factory ships together, and saved Solus from a wannabe dictator. That creates bonds, pal!"

"Yeah" said a relieved Toby. "I mean, we really did a number on this fleet, right? Almost made me feel bad for the L-"

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!" suddenly shouted Orendi, rushing to close Toby's beak with her hands. "Toby, Toby, I love you man, and I love your death machine but man, think about the _SPOILERS_ you were about to give! No one likes spoilers, like no one likes cold coffee or Kleese or Rendain or country music or Kleese or Rendain or the fourth season of _Love, Shards and Bank Accounts_ or Kleese or Rendain…"

"….Okay, even for her that is weird" said a dumbfounded Reyna.

"Amen to that" said Foxtrot before downing another drink.

Pendles sat even more comfortably in his seat, letting out a small sigh of content.

"Oooh, boy, I missed you mates too much. Even Orendi."

"Thanks!" said Orendi, letting her hands go off Toby's beak, doing a quadruple thumbs up, which let Toby gasp for air before the Chaos Witch resumed her tirade. "…or party poopers or Kleese or Rendain or vegan steaks and seriously, who the heck invented that so I can kill him or Kleese or Rendain…"

"Orendi, let him breathe" said sternly Reyna. Orendi immediately let Toby go. The Finiscan crawled a bit on the table, gasping for air in rapid, frantic, successive intakes of breath.

Meanwhile, Alani met with the rest of the Eldrid, who were likewise gathered at their own table. Boldur, of course, was the one being the loudest about meeting a new member of his faction.

"Welcome, welcome, young oak! Boldur is really glad to see you, oh yes!"

"Grandpa, let her breathe" said Thorn. "I think you're crushing her ribs."

And indeed, Boldur had locked Alani into a bear hug, which Alani's smaller constitution had trouble handling. The Ekkuni dwarf apologized, and let out Alani, who breathed shakily for a few moments, before smiling at the dwarf, not wanting to sour the mood with a complaint she didn't even really wanted to say in the first place.

"Well, I had way less enthusiastic hellos before, that's for sure."

"Boldur tends to show his affection a lot more than most people can take" said a bemused Kelvin. "Greetings, young one. I am Kelvin" said the ice golem while extending one of his hands to Alani.

"Nice to meet you, Kelvin" said Alani, taking the hand and shaking it. "Though I really don't know what to call you beyond 'Kelvin'. I never met someone like you before…"

"Ah, my humblest apologies" said Kelvin. "I tend to forget my condition is rather unique. I am what you could call a hive mind occupying this body of ice. Though the specifics escape my grasp, Miko and Phoebe could probably tell you a lot more about those."

"Speaking of Miko" butted in Mellka, "it apologizes for not being here, but it's hard at work on Aurox down in the med bay. It will come to meet you later, especially since you're going to work together in the future."

"'It'?" asked a confused Alani.

"Miko is a spore from A .Mikkolopria. A mushroom man. It doesn't have a gender. Oh, I'm Mellka, by the way. Nice to meet ya!"

"And I am Theshka, but my friends call me Thorn" said the Aelfrin archer next to her. "A pleasure to meet you as well. And, of course, you know about my grandfather, Boldur."

"…Oh, Ancestors, I think I'm going to faint. I'm standing next to the Red Observer, the wielder of Kreshek, and the captain of the Woodsworn. You guys make, like, half of my pantheon of heroes."

Alani let out a squee, before realizing she had done so, and quickly shut her mouth. That didn't stop Mellka from snickering at her, though. Alani hadn't been exactly quiet.

"Heh, don't sell yourself short. From what Reyna told me, you're no slouch either. Glad to have you with us.

"Okay. That's it. I'm officially dreaming." said Alani. "I am _so_ glad I accepted the job!"

While Alani was busy fangirling over the Eldrid heroes, Montana had managed to grab Pendles away from the Rogues, and towards the rest of the crew.

"It's always nice meetin' new people on the job" said the giant lumberjack. "That's two wickedly sharp things you got here, pal, by the way. You sure know your craftsmanship, they look like everyone could use them to climb Aplia's mountains."

"Thanks, mate. Believe it or not, I did just that, back when Aplia was still around. Nice view, but the wildlife was real savage, though."

"I hear ya, I hear ya" chuckled Montana. "Silverbacks were especially nasty. Why did you go there, by the way? Vacation?"

"Assassination" replied cheerfully the Roa.

Surprisingly, Montana took the news very well.

"Ah, it must have been one hell of a job, then. We Aplians are _really_ sturdy" chuckled he.

"Yeah, I tracked the guy for two days _after_ I left him bleeding and missing an eye. Even with that, he still almost got me with a nasty little combat knife he hid in his beard."

"Wait, he hid a knife in his beard? Now there's something I'm trying later."

He then noticed Alani was busily chatting with the rest of the Eldrid. Montana, wanting the two new crew members to meet everyone else, waved at the group.

"Hey! Thorn! Can we borrow the new girl for a minute? There's still a lot of people who want to meet her!"

Thorn looked away from Alani, noticed Montana, and nodded, before telling Alani she was awaited. Soon, the water monk was at Montana's and Pendles' side.

"Hello, mister…?" asked Alani.

"You can call me Montana" replied the lumberjack. "I'm with the UPR commandos on this ship. Or, well, I was, but then I defected with the Captain. Nice to meet you, Alani! It was Alani, wasn't it?"

"Nice to meet you too, Montana, and yes, don't worry, you're right."

"Ah, that's a relief. Well, I'm going to introduce to my pal over here, and then I'll show you around the LLC and the Jennerit, too."

"Jennerit are working with you?" asked a surprised Pendles. "I thought they would be kind of pissed when you killed their leader."

"Oh, almost two thirds of the Jennerit Empire wanted him dead, and it's Rath, one of his own elite guards, that took him down. Or, at least, I think he was an elite guard. I don't remember the details. Anyways, we've arrived. Mike! The new people are here!"

The UPR private looked up from the holo-vid he was watching, and waved at Montana, slapping by accident the nearby El Dragón. Mike apologized, before rushing to Montana.

"Hey, bro!" said the clone trooper. "So you finally managed to grab up the new recruits? About time! I was running out of episodes from _Love, Shards and Bank Accounts_! So, hi! I'm Oscar Mike, the baddest badass of badassitude in this badass system of badassitude! Which means I got lots of badassitude!" he said while performing a flourish with his arms. He then immediately went back to normal, or as normal as he could get. "So, who's who?"

"The name's Pendles, mate. Nice to meet ya."

"I'm Alani. Nice to meet you too!"

Oscar shook both her hand and his tentacle very enthusiastically.

"So, I take it the pretty lady is the badass cold-hearted assassin that can turn invisible at will, and the swell snake-man is the cool and collected water monk, am I right?"

Pendles, Alani and Montana looked at him in a respective look of bemusement, unease and resignation, Montana letting out a small sigh.

"I think you got it backwards, mate. I am the assassin, you see."

"Yeah, and I'm the water monk, actually… Is he alright?" whispered she to Montana. "I did a Holo-Cast meeting with you all, right? I mean, you _did_ see my face earlier, right?"

"Don't worry about it" said Montana out loud. "Ever since his planet got darkened, he's not been the same. He's making progress, but he stills need to act this way to cope."

"A cop? One of you is a cop? Seriously? Montana, why didn't you tell me anything? I want to become a space cop too!"

Pendles couldn't help but chuckle at that, and Alani almost did too. Meanwhile, Montana only moaned, loudly, before talking again.

"Mike, buddy, did you read that book I gave you, two months ago?"

"The one with words after words after words in it?"

"Yes, this one. The one without pictures."

"Yeah, I see it! It was real boring, I mean, half of the words in there, I didn't even know jack s**t about them. I mean, who the heck wants to know what a dictionary is?"

Montana facepalmed, which hurt him quite a bit, considering the size of his hands against the size of his head.

"Shouldn't have done that…" said he while massaging his head gently. "Mike, I told you, it may not be fun, but it's important. Promise you will try again?"

"Only if you promise me to take me minion wrestling with you and El Dragón!"

"I already promised you that" said the lumberjack with an amused sigh.

"Well, promise me again! Cause minion-wrestling is awesome!"

"Alright, alright, I'll take you next time. _If_ you read the dictionary, alright?"

"Sure thing!" said Mike, letting out a thumbs-up. "See ya later, assassin lady and snake-monk dude! I promised Kleese to help him with something. He was telling me my help was 'par-a-mount', whatever that means, to his… Erm, his experiment?... I think? Anyways, see ya!"

The clone soldier bolted out of the room, humming the Montana song to himself.

"Think we should stop him?" said a concerned Mellka, who passed nearby the group when she heard Mike mention Kleese.

"…That might be a good idea" said Montana. "I'm sure I heard Kleese laughing in his lab, earlier."

"Keep on the tour" said a determined Mellka. "I'm gonna save him from whatever Kleese wants to do to him."

With that said, she bolted out of the room as well, trying to catch up to Oscar Mike.

"Should we be concerned about this?" asked Alani.

"Nah, don't worry" said Montana. "Kleese is nuts, but he never hurt one of us. We're just afraid he might do something stupid like telling Mike to mess with Rath's swords or drink my beer."

He paused for a moment.

"On second thought, you might want to retreat in your rooms after the tour. Or take popcorn. Depends on how much you like holo-drama."

Alani and Pendles looked at each other.

"I have a _very_ bad feeling about this" whispered Alani to Pendles.

"I know! Isn't that awesome?" cheekily grinned Pendles.

"Alright, so you've already met with Benedict, Galilea and the Captain earlier, so that wraps up the UPR" said Montana, unaware of Alani's growing dread. "And here's Rath and Caldarius. Hey guys!"

The aforementioned pair turned around, and seeing the three other Battleborn coming their way, walked towards them as well.

"So, this here is Caldarius, though you already knew that. He's one of the Jennerit shock troopers, and you already saw that those guys live up to their name, am I right?"

Montana punched Caladarius in the shoulder, which resulted in him falling to the ground, yelping in surprise. He got back up soon enough, and tried to brush it off as if nothing happened.

"Don't do that again. It's not a suggestion" said he ominously, his armor's glowing to help ensuring a threatening effect.

"And here's Rath" said Montana while motioning to the Jennerit swordmaster, completely ignoring Caldarius' warning. "He's the guy who killed Rendain."

"Indeed" said Rath. "I also created two schools of swordfight, lead the Keepers of the Blades for a millennia before they turned traitor, and was Empress Lenore's personal bodyguard. But I forgive you for forgetting all of that, Montana."

"Oh, come on, you killed Rendain! That's impressive! And it's been less time since it happened that all of those other things you did."

Rath sighed, knowing he lost the battle.

"Fine, fine, I'm 'the guy who killed Rendain'. Empress, if I had known nobody would ever stop reminding me, I would have let you kill him, Caldarius."

"A shame you did not" merely replied Caldarius, still somewhat miffed about his lost vengeance.

"Caldarius" groaned Rath, "are you _still_ trying to guilt trip me about this? For how long will this last?"

"We're both Sustained, Verod. So, for quite a long time."

"Hush, you two" said Deande, walking behind the rest of the group, frenetically tapping on her datapad. "Alani and Pendles are not here to witness you two fight like two children over a piece of candy. And where in the name of the Empress has Ambra gone to, by the way?" said she, raising her head to look at the two Jennerit warriors. "I told her our new comrades arrived earlier. Is there a problem with her tablet?"

"I wouldn't know" said Caldarius. "Last time I went in her room, to tell her Galilea was looking for her, she hurled a fireball at me."

"That was four months ago!" said a bewildered Deande.

"My point exactly."

To that, Deande thought about for a second, before realizing that, indeed, Caldarius had been wise to not try again. Sighing, she resumed the conversation.

"Dammit. Of all the times to be her usual stuck-up self. My apologies" she said to the two new Battleborn. "It seems one of our colleagues had… something… delaying her. She will probably be here soon though, so you could still see her at the end of the tour."

"Don't bother, she's on her way" bellowed Attikus, who had somehow sneaked on the group undetected. Deande, Alani and Montana jumped in fright, while Rath, Caldarius and Pendles went for their weapons immediately.

"What?" asked a perplexed Attikus. "Oh, I get it, I have salad in my teeth again?"

"No, not at all, Attikus" replied Deande, her composure back. "It's just that you startled us."

"Oh. My apologies then" said the Thrall.

"Whoh, whoh, whoh, wait a little moment, there" said Pendles. "Are you letting a _Thrall_ running around your ship? You've become a little bonkers or what, hosting one of Rendain's goons?"

"The Thrall has a name, _Roa_ " snarled Attikus. "It's Attikus, and were I you, I would advise against calling me one of Rendain's and the Imperium's pawns, unless you're fond of getting your teeth knocked out of your skull."

"Attikus kinda lost everything to Rendain before he gained sentience" said Montana to Pendles, trying to defuse the situation. "So, yeah, he's all good. Oh, and no jabs at the Thrall or at slavery in general. He's had a bad experience with that, recently."

"That's an understatement if I ever heard one" said Attikus.

"Sorry for my partner insulting you, mister Attikus" said Alani, bowing slightly, while elbowing Pendles at the same time.

"Sheesh, alright, alright, I hear ya, sorry mate. Not used to talk to Thralls that don't want to shoot me, is all. No hard feelings."

"That's better" smirked Alani. "But, I don't understand something. How come you were able to join the Battleborn? I thought every Thrall was in the Imeprium's custody."

"My jailors thought giving me this" said the hulking Thrall while raising his Hedronic Collector. "would make me smarter. Smart enough to lead my Thrall brethren into the most dangerous places."

He let out a small chuckle.

"Well, I became smart enough to lead them there all right. The Third and worst Thrall Rebellion they ever faced."

"I wish I'd been here" said a wistful Caldarius. "I heard it was a thing of beauty."

"Lots of my closest friends died that day" reminded Attikus.

"Drawing a fake mustache on Rendain's statues wasn't worth it?" asked rhetorically Caldarius.

"It was a nice consolation price, if anything" reluctantly agreed Attikus. "Anyways, that's who I am. Since Rendain's dead, and the Empire's acting leader" pointed he at Deande, "promised us Thralls full citizenship for our services in the war, I guess that makes me Jennerit too. Though all of them don't agree with that."

"Well, you're more Jennerit than all of those pampered politicians and aristocrats combined are, Attikus. And if one of them dares deny your worth, then I shall remind them that _you_ fought for Solus and they did _not_."

"Hey" said Attikus, "thanks. That's appreciated."

"Well, I have to say" said Pendles to Montana, "that's quite the interesting crew you got there. UPR, Jennerit, LLC, Eldrid and Rogues, all livin' and fightin' together, and not killing each other? Color me impressed."

"Yeah, there's just so many awesome people here! I am _so_ excited to be part of this!"

"Ah, the foolishness of youth" said a robotic, distorted voice. "She actually looks forwards to spend time with us. Poor child. I would pity her, if my personality consisted of something else than burning hate and utter sadism."

Everyone turned around to see ISIC looking back at them, his blue, holographic skull gazing lifelessly into the air.

"But where are my manners?" said the Magnus in a disturbingly cheerful tone. "I'm ISIC, though you already know that. I would say it's nice to meet you, but I hate every one of you meatbags, so I hate you. Toodles!"

And just like that, the insane Magnus was off, leaving Pendles and Alani quite stunned at such a casual display of hate.

"Is he always like-"began Alani, only for Montana to cut her off.

"Always. Trust me, it's not worth it to fight it."

"And we _tried_ " wearily sighed Attikus. "At least, Kleese got him in check, but never, and I say _never_ trust him, young lady. ISIC is the kind of being that wants to watch the world burn, and has the lighter in his hand."

"Yeah, not creepy at all, mate" said Pendles, gulping a little at the prospect. His killer instinct told him the Magnus was _not_ to be messed with, and if his new teammates' warnings were any indication, he was right to fear him.

"Don't worry" said a new voice unknown to the two new recruits, whose origin soon made itself known: Phoebe joined the conversation, entering the little group that was gathering in the mess hall. "As long as Kleese and I have his code, he can't do anything to us. Phoebe Hemsworth, head of Hemsworth Intelligence Enterprise" said she while holding out her hand, waiting for a shake. "A pleasure to meet you."

"And it is I, the great, the magnificent, the terrific, the fiery, the wonderful, _El Dragón!_ " said the aforementioned luchador, performing a flourish with his arms, before jumping off the table he had been standing on. "No need for applause, thank you, thank you, I'll sign autographs at the end of the day."

"…Who are you?" asked both Pendles and Alani at the same time, causing Dragón to comically fall to the ground.

"The greatest Holo-Arena luchador!" said he once he got back on his feet. "The former Great Champion of the Arcfleet! The one, the only, _El Dragón_!"

He did another one of his flourishes, hoping the new one he made, pointing towards the metaphorical sky, would somehow impress his audience more.

"…Sorry, I got nothin'" shrugged Pendles.

Francesco's head visibly dropped at that, his sadness apparent.

"I've been out of the game for too long" he moaned. "Now, the Dragón is a complete nobody in the hearts of the youth of Solus. Damn you, robot arms!"

Rath, Caldarius, Montana and Deande merely watched in bemusement, while Phoebe shook her head in resignation.

"Francesco, I told you that, once this gruesome business with the Varelsi is done, I would sponsor you to reenter the catching circuit, did I not?"

"Yes!" said El Dragón, instantly, perking up. "The return of the Dragón, now brought to you by the Hemsworth Barony! A comeback of legend!"

"And is _he_ always like that?" whispered Alani to Montana.

"Oh, you have _no_ idea" chuckled Montana. "He _breathes_ catch. He is pretty much always like that."

"And he also happens to be the head of my security service."

"I still don't know why you even bother with security when you have that rapier set of yours" said Rath. "And it's not like you do not know how to use them, either. Why do you keep him?"

"For the same reason we keep Benedict around: he's loud enough that the enemy shoots at him, not at us."

"I act as a bait, and I make it look good!" said cheerfully the luchador.

"How we even managed to kill Rendain, there's a question for the ages…" muttered Deande after an audible facepalm. "So, anyways, I need to be on my way. The Imperial Chamber is hosting a reunion, and I need to participate. If someone seeks me out, I'll be in my office."

"Deande?" called Phoebe. "We still have a meeting of our own appointed for today, right?"

"Of course, I got your memo" replied the Jennerit spymistress. "Just before lunch, if I remember correctly? I will see you later, Phoebe."

And with that, Deande was off, her steps fast and nimble. The spymistress now gone, Attikus turned to Phoebe.

"Hey, say, Phoebe, I didn't see Marquis around here. Isn't he usually with you?"

The Hemsworth heiress visibly cringed at that, though she concealed it quickly.

"Marquis and I had a… _different_ , so to say, recently. We've agreed to give each other a bit of breathing room for the time being."

Rath and Caldarius looked at her, noticing immediately, with their centuries of experience, how Phoebe was good at lying. Not good enough, though. The two Jennerit warriors looked at each other, a silent message passing between Rath and Caldarius.

 _We'll need to ask her in private_

Likewise, Pendles noticed right away Phoebe was hiding part of the truth, but he guessed as long no one paid him to dig up Phoebe's secrets, it wasn't his pace to pry, and so let the matter go. Meanwhile, Montana, Attikus and Alani didn't notice a thing, and carried on the conversation.

"Well, alright, then" said Montana. "That only leaves him and Ambra for you to see, then? Well, Ambra should be here soon enough, I hop-

"WHO LEFT THOSE POSITIVELY DREADFUL BEER STAINS ON THIS TABLE? THIS SHIP IS _NOT_ A DAMN TRASHCAN!"

"Never mind, she's here" said Montana, still wincing from the shrill sound.

"Well, a lively woman, this Ambra, from what we heard, isn't she love?" asked Pendles to Alani.

However, Alani didn't respond.

"Love?" asked Pendles again. "Solus to Alani? You here?"

What the Roa saw when he turned around was the most haunting look he ever saw on Alani's face. Fear, rage, hate, confusion, and profound sadness were all dancing in the white of the water monk's eyes. Her fists were clenching with barely controlled rage, her skin beginning to emit a little bit of steam, a sign that she was _really_ angry at the moment.

"Alani?" tried Pendles again. "Is… Is everything alright, love?"

" _She_ 's here" said Alani, with a venom Pendles rarely heard, and never had before in Alani's face. "This _b**ch_ is here."

"…I have a very bad feeling about what's going to happen" said Rath, noticing that Alni's anger surge had been triggered by Ambra's shout.

"You're not the only one" muttered Phoebe.

Meanwhile, Montana, oblivious to the metaphorical and litteral brewing storm behind him, called for Ambra.

"Hey, Ambra! Over here!"

"Montana! I want to know who, in the name of the Empress, _dared_ to soil those eating grounds with… beer" she finished, her disgust for the beverage apparent.

"Can it wait for later?" asked the lumberjack. "Cause right now, I've got to present you the two new recruits. Kinda became their official tour guide, heh" chuckled he.

Ambra's face instantly paled, as impossible as it might sound, and looked at the lumberjack with wide, terrified eyes.

"Oh no. Oh, no, no, no, no, she is here. She is here, and she is going to see me."

"Ambra?" asked Montana "Is everything alright?"

"Of course not, it isn't, you moronic child!" she howled. "She is going to see m-

" ** _YOU !_** " bellowed Alani, steadily walking towards Ambra. "How _dare_ you show your face around, you monster!"

Everyone in the room stopped doing whatever they were doing at the moment, and watched intently as Alani closed in on Ambra.

"Hello, child" stated Ambra.

"Do _not_ try to act like everything is cool between us, Silent Sister. You know perfectly well why that will never happen."

"I will let you know I _do_ have a name, and if we are to work together in the future, it would be well to call me something else than 'Silent Sister'."

"Working together? I will never work with you, you mass murderer!"

The tone of the argument was quickly rising, and Ambra, the shock at seeing Alani now gone, was beginning to heat up as well.

"You seem to forget I did not order your world's assault. I was merely following orders, and as such, I forbid you to throw grave accusations like that around, especially when they are this baseless!"

"Don't you dare and try giving me that pretext, _Sister_ " said Alani while emphasizing Ambra's title. "We all know you could have rebelled. Which is what you did, apparently. Of course, you couldn't muster the courage before slaughtering everything I loved, could you?"

Ambra stiffened at that, a dark light shining through her eyes.

"You are treading a _very_ dangerous terrain, my dear. Measure your next words carefully."

"You are a coward, and a butcher" said Alani without missing a beat. "You begged for your life even though you annihilated Akopos mere minutes before I went for you, and killed your own troopsin your escape by rigging the ship. Doesn't seem baseless to me."

Ambra was now positively smoking with rage, her fingers releasing small streams of solar fire.

"You cannot even begin to understand the situation I was in, _child_ " she spat. "I have existed for millennia, and I will not allow a stupid toddler to insult me!"

"ENOUGH!" resounded a voice through the mess hall, revealing itself to be Ghalt. "I'm gone five goddamn minutes, and there's _already_ people at each other's throats? What happened?"

"What happened, sir" immediately replied Alani, "is that you're allying with a mass murderer. The murderer of my people."

"Mass murderer?" asked Ghalt. "You know this is a pretty huge accusation, right Alani?"

"Are you saying I'm lying?" asked a dumbfounded Alani. "I was there! I was inside her own ship, when Akopos, my world, was literally boiled away!"

"Ambra, is what she says true?"

"I have been amnestied of every crime I have committed under Rendain's rule by virtue of my actions in the war for Sol-

" _Is what she says true, Ambra?_ " repeated Ghalt, more forcefully.

Ambra closed her eyes, taking a very deep sigh, before looking back at Ghalt.

"Yes. I personally supervised the operation known as the Boiling of Akopos."

Silence was the only thing heard in the room after that, every Battleborn looking at Ambra with a new eye. Thankfully, none became angry as Alani did, wanting to at least let Ambra a chance to explain her actions.

"…I had been ordered by Rendain himself to go to that freshwater world, and to boil it, in order to gain enough drinkable water to give our troops in the Pennarch campaign. With the darkening of the universe, resources are making themselves scant, after all."

"Let me get this straight" interrupted Ghalt. "Are you telling me you literally _boiled_ a whole planet, just to get _water_?"

" _Rendain_ did" countered Ambra, barely keeping her annoyance in check. "I was merely following orders."

"…This… This is… Why didn't you tell us before?" asked a completely flabbergasted Ghalt. "Did anyone else here even knew about this?" asked he to the rest of the Battleborn, only for them to all answer by the negative.

"No one knew, not even Deande" affirmed Ambra. "This mission wasn't even classified, Rendain himself issued the order in person, and no written trace of the Boiling of Akopos was placed inside the Imperial archives."

"I knew you did shady work when you were working under Rendain… But this is on another level entirely, Ambra. You condemned an entire planet to die…" said Ghalt in a mix of disappointment, anger, and a bit of fear. "How could you?"

"It was either me or another Silent Sister" replied sadly Ambra. "Had I refused, I would have been stripped of my Incantress Superior title, and someone worse would have taken my place. Which is _exactly_ what happened with Aria, during the Third Thrall Rebellion."

"Keeping your position allowed you to destroy my culture, then?" asked Alani. "Allowed you to press the button and wipe out my order? Right. Very convincing."

Alani suddenly felt very tired, the exhaustion form the day catching back to her.

"I'll be in my room if someone needs me, everyone" she said, having already arranged her sleeping arrangements with Mellka earlier. "But make no mistake, Ambra. This isn't over."

And on those words, the water monk was off, leaving the rest of the Battleborn to process what just happened.

"You do know this will become a problem in the near future, right?" asked Ghalt to Ambra. "It's not like you two will have much room to avoid each other here."

"Thank you, Captain Ghalt" answered the priestess as icily as she could, "but I didn't ask you to meddle into _my_ personal problems."

"Given your experience, I'm willing to let you two sort it out. But if it somehow becomes a threat to the Battleborn's unity, your problem will become mine, too. Are we clear?"

"Crystal, Trevor."

"Excellent. Now if you could all please resume whatever the heck you were doing before" addressed the first Battleobrn to his crew, "that would be rad. Thanks."

With that said, the rest of the _Nova_ 's crew went back to talking between each other, though given the looks thrown at Ambra, it was clear everyone was only talking about the altercation that just happened.

"So, I'll be going. If you need help with your… problem… please, ask for it. It's Alani's first day, and we already managed to piss her off. We really don't want her to leave the crew so soon after joining."

"I suppose I could make an effort and swallow my pride this time" begrudgingly admitted Ambra.

"Great. Alright, then, if someone needs me, I'll be in the engineering bay" said Ghalt out loud, before leaving the mess hall.

At the Rogues' table, Foxtrot downed yet another pint, before elbowing Pendles.

"Hey, you're not going to see her?" asked he to the Roa.

"Nah, she's too angry to listen to whatever I could say right now" dismissed Pendles. "She's likely to send me out of the room with a geyser, or something else, if I disturb her."

"Well, you know her better. I'll trust ya on this one. Would have expected you to be slightly more pissed of at Ambra, though. Given she destroyed your homeworld."

"Meh, never felt like home back then, really. And everyone I even slightly care for evacuated before that, so I'm all good."

"Hey, good for you, then."

He took another pint, and downed it just like all the previous ones, before slamming it onto the table.

"Huh" he said, his voice slightly off, "didn't remember there was a pink Swarmer inside the mess hall."

With that said, he 'hicced' once, before closing his eyes and falling to the ground.

"Nighty-nighty, Whiskey!" happily said Orendi, waving her four hands at him, before resuming what she was doing, namely, talking to herself.

"Oh, Galaxies, I'll have to bring him back to his room again" moaned Reyna. "Pendles, mind helping me?"

"Nope" repied the assassin, "busy chillin in this chair, boss."

"Twenty credits to move your lazy a**."

"I won't take less than forty."

"As if. Twenty-five."

"Thirty-five."

"Thirty, and that's my last offer, Pendles."

"Alright, I'll help ya" said Pendles with a s**t-eating grin, happy to extort thirty creds from Reyna.

Together, they grabbed the unconscious Rogue clone, the other Battleborn not bothering to throw more than a slightly curious look, used as they were to Foxtrot's antics.

Besides, with what happened between Ambra and Alani, there was something far more worth discussing, after all.


	14. Chapter 13 : Benedict : Reunion

**Hello everyone, Darren Xirias here!**

 **At last, you get to see Benedict and his kids have a touching tender reunion, cause I'm not good only at writing silly humor and tense drama. Or am I? Who cares, I wrote this, and if you didn't already close the tab, that means you're probably going to read it (thanks by the way).**

 **On a completely unrelated note, have I mentioned we reached the 40 followers bar? Because we did! Hurray to you, take this internet cookie that isn't actually a cookie! (Sorry about that)**

 **And on the topic of my posting schedule, it's been a very, very busy month of February for me. Internship, engineering school's paperwork, exams and familial drama (nothing too severe, don't worry) have kept me far busier than it ought to have. Hopefully, this will calm down, and I'm going to post more often! (Especially since I finally overcame my writer's block!)**

 **Alright, enough chit-chat, here's the story! And don't forget, reviews are very much appreciated!**

 ***o*o*o*o***

 _Benedict : Reunion_

August Benedict wasn't one to doubt what he saw often. Came with the territory of being one of the most smart-mouthed Aviants in the whole UPR military, actually. You pretty much had to believe what your eyes told you in order to remind your superiors why their plan would fail if they left an opening in a defensive position, after all. Still, he didn't expect in a thousand years that two of his children would somehow still be _alive_.

When he first saw them, Wisp and Peck, Benedict thought that he would throw caution to the wind and just drop his weapon to rush at them. For a moment, a brief, terrible moment, he doubted. He thought it was another joke the universe was playing on him. That his family were all dead, and that the two Aviants in front of him were not his children, but just the results of a really contrived coincidence, another sick joke the Universe could have thrown at him. And for a moment, he thought that was going to be the case.

After all, Wisp and Peck had changed a lot since the last time he saw them. The two little Aviants kids he had left on Menneck-B weren't kids anymore: their wings were fully out, the brown feathers a reflection of their father's own wingspan back when he still had it whole. Their beaks were likewise very similar, the black and the white almost in the exact same places as their father's. However, despite the obvious similarities resulting in being the same subspecies of Aviants, the resemblance ended here.

He recognized Circinae more than he recognized himself in their brood: their eyes, firstly, were clearly not his. While he had a deep crimson color to them, theirs were cerulean blue. Their crestfeathers were also unlike his: a combination of blue and yellow instead of yellow and black, Wisp having colored half of hers in pink, strangely enough.

And yet, he doubted. He _saw_ that shuttle flying straight into a Jennerit hovertank out of hyper drive. He _saw_ the resulting explosion. Despite the chaos that had been the battle for Madan, he managed to track the ship carrying the most important people in his life. And the following disaster as well.

Tentatively, he raised up a talon, slowly, whispering their names softly, as if not wanting to shatter the illusion he was currently in.

Thankfully, the two Aviants crashing into him washed all those doubts away. At long last, after years of fighting, August Benedict met with his family again.

Wrapping his two children into his arms, he began to cry.

*o*o*o*o*

"I can't believe you did _that_!" said an awed Peck to his father.

The three Aviants had spent the last hour catching up, namely hearing Benedict's part of the story, which he gleefully told. The UPR ship captain had graciously allowed Benedict to climb aboard the frigate, despite his status as a deserter, on account of his heroism in saving Solus. Ghalt had let a shuttle from the _Nova_ board the frigate as well, once it became clear Benedict was going to spend time with his children, mission debriefing be damned, for the Aviant to come back to the Battleborn.

As such, Benedict was now taking its time regaling his children with tales of his heroic feats that, for once, were not embellished by his pride.

"Sure I did! Damn abomination didn't know what hit it. Best part is that, because it was stunned, it knocked out the Alpha Scaven next to it, thinking it was me!"

Benedict laughed heartily.

"And _then_ Mellka, one of the Eldrid I work with now, just went to its face and _kicked_ it."

Peck let out an impressed whistle.

"Alright, this woman is one of my role models now" laughed Wisp. "Even you and mom would never have done that."

"Yeah, she's hardcore" admitted the Aviant. "She also stabbed a Ronin bot straight through the head, once. While she was in the air. Falling from a cliff."

"I knew Eldrid were nimble, but that's just insane" said Peck. "I mean, ever tried killing someone in close quarters while airborne?"

"Actually, I did" reminded his father. "I stopped. _Way_ easier to shoot rockets at stuff and watch it explode."

"I can only imagine" said Wisp. "The only explosions we heard of were the demolition charges used in the mines."

An uneasy silence fell over the group of three, the reminder of the slavery the two young Aviants had endured sobering up everyone.

"…I suppose you want to tell me about it, am I right?" asked her father.

"I'm not so sure…" said Peck. "It was… Worse than we heard, to say the least."

"Yeah. We were about three hundred Aviants from that raid" added Wisp. "Counting us, about twenty survived the whole decade and half."

"…Are the others…?" asked Benedict, in a hopeful and resigned tone at the same time, somehow.

"Mom didn't make it" cut Peck. "She went down fighting, but what could she do? She was the only one armed aboard the shuttle, and there was a whole Thrall battalion. They even sent a Ronin squad. They ganged up on her when she was face to face with a Brute."

Peck didn't need to finish. Ronins were infamous for being, by far, the most dangerous model of minion save from Elites one could deploy. And depending on the situation, one Ronin could be even more dangerous than an Elite, especially in closed spaces.

Benedict hung his head low, fighting back the waterworks that threatened to begin should he let his guard down. He noticed Peck and Wisp both let out tears as well, though they weren't openly bawling. Benedict guessed they had enough time to mourn.

"Sarret, having only one workable wing at birth, had it rougher than us, but he held his own" carried on Peck. "But then, there was this Jennerit scientist that went, and saw him. She said something to the supervisor, about his condition, and took him. We never saw him back."

"Dr Lucavi, the Thralls called her" added Wisp. "Only Rendain himself scared them more, and not by much. Galaxies, she was _terrifying_. She was like a child, but she had so much metal on her, and her smile… Her _smile_ … We still have nightmares about it."

"Seriously, Dad" added Peck. "However scary you think the Varelsi are, she is worse. Way worse."

Benedict reflected on that for a moment, before deciding he would trust his children on it, and drop the matter.

"Armandi managed to adapt to the work charge faster than any of us" said Wisp, "never understood how. He was the bookworm of the family, and yet, out of us five, he was the one that managed to do the most work. To the point that the Jennerit transferred him to one of their most sensible facilities."

"He used his limited influence to ease our conditions a little" continued Peck. "Thanks to him, we had slightly more food, we were put on the priority list at the infirmary, things like that."

"But in the power plant he worked at, one reactor entered meltdown, and he was working on it at the time. Our supervisor told us they never found anything of him."

Benedict was feeling sick, now. Half of his family was dead, and in no small part thanks to the Jennerit. If he hadn't realized that not all of them were remorseless slavers, and that his now colleagues actively fought against this system, he would have been tempted to kill them all in a fit of revenge. The way he heard how callously his loved ones had been disposed of made his skin crawl.

"And Auggie?" he asked, fearful he would hear another news that could definitely kill him inside. "What happened to him?"

Peck and Wisp exchanged a glance, guilty looks in their eyes, and Benedict felt his heart sink even further.

"Auggie being the last child, he… didn't last long" finally said Peck.

"They killed him, didn't they?" asked Benedict with a dead look in his eyes.

"Yes. It was quick though. The Thrall supervising us said it was better that way. He was already coughing blood after a week. At least he didn't suffer."

"I'm surprised you're not angrier at the Thralls" asked Benedict.

"They were as much slaves as we were" replied Wisp. "They understood what we went through. Why do you think there were three Rebellions?"

"Our warden led the third one, actually. A Jennerit scientist gave him a gauntlet or something, one day, and he became _much_ smarter. So much, in fact, that the third time was the charm."

Benedict suddenly felt dread, recognizing a pattern in his kids' stories.

"Your warden… was his name Attikus?"

The two other Aviants looked at each other in shock, proving that his hunch was right.

"Yes" said Wisp. "He's called Attikus."

"…My last son's murderer has been fighting with me for half-a-year, and he never bothered to tell me he killed baby Aviants" snarled Benedict. "Ghalt is going to hear from me about that one."

"He is working with you?" asked Wisp. "As in, he's a Battleborn?"

"Not for much longer, he isn't" replied Benedict. "He killed Auggie, and I'm not going to let that pass."

"Dad, he didn't kill him" said Peck. "He was already dead the moment we set talon on Tempest. He just saved him months of suffering."

"He was the one who took punishment whenever someone stole food. Took the blame for almost everyone" explained Wisp. "Including that one time for Peck."

Benedict looked at his son, nudging him to continue the story.

"I stole a piece of bread when I thought a Jennerit soldier wasn't looking. Problem is, those guys have fast reflexes. Grabbed my talon before I even made two steps. If Attikus hadn't intervened, and said he ordered me to steal the bread for him, I would have been killed on the spot."

Benedict softened at that. If Attikus had done that, he would at least hear him out on the matter before confronting him. Even so, he was still beyond furious.

"Damn it!" he shouted after a few moments, punching hard the wall of the small resting room they were in. The echo rang for a few seconds. "Why did this have to happen? I should never have sent you on that shuttle. I should have forced High Command to pick you all up instead. They would have listened to me! I was their frickin' hero! They _owed_ me that much! They owed _us_ that much!"

"Dad, you could have never guessed" said Wisp, posing a talon on her father's shoulder, trying to calm him down. "The hovertank appeared out of nowhere. No one picked up its approach. It's not your fault."

"You and I both know it's a lie" said Benedict, clenching his talon so hard it drew a small amount of blood, though Benedict didn't notice. "I knew sending you off was a bad idea. I knew it, and I allowed it to happen. I _let_ you be taken off by the Jennerit."

"STOP!" shouted Peck, to the surprise of the other two Aviants in the room. "Just… Just stop saying things like that, Dad! You did everything you could to save us. What we lived on Tempest doesn't change that."

"I fled like a coward, Peck" said Benedict, looking away in shame. "One bullet in my wing was all it took, and I ran for my life. How can you call this saving you?"

"Alright, you fled. And then what?" asked Peck.

His father stared at him, not understanding what Peck was getting at.

"You did the _smart_ thing! How could have you fought with one wing bleeding off? Staying on the battlefield wounded would have just got you killed. I would know, I heard that line enough at school."

"They're teaching you _this_ piece of crap, now?" bitterly laughed Benedict. "Heck, I should have enlisted you five into a private school. Wouldn't have taught you that kind of bulls**t."

"I thought private schools were for rich stuck up old hens that wanted to ruin their kids' lives before it even started" countered Wisp, trying to change the subject to something lighter.

"I _never_ said that, young lady" said Benedict.

"You did" countered Peck. "When Armandi wanted to apply to Minion Robotics Polytechnic Holo-School. Then, you added something about how every children of yours would go to military school, end of story."

"Alright" relented Benedict. "I did say that."

"Then, Mom signed the appliance papers the second you turned your back on us" added Wisp.

"The worst thing is that I'm not surprised. Your mother just loved to do everything opposite of me, _just_ to get a rise out of me" said Benedict, smiling a little at the memory.

The memory turned sour fast however, and the smile dropped. Benedict let out a long sigh, before turning to face his two children.

"Peck, Wisp… What happens now? After what you went through, I sure as heck ain't going to make you follow me in the war. And I can't use my relations to place you somewhere safe, given I deserted. But where _can_ you go?"

"That's… a very good question, actually" said Peck. "I would have enlisted in the UPR Inter-Republic Special Forces, given I had a shot at it before, well… everything happened, but now, after what you told me about the Battleborn… I kinda wish I could join you actually."

"I thought you hated them" asked a surprised Wisp. "A band of losers in a suicide mission that are hogging the spotlight like self-conceited bastards."

"Ouch" said Benedict, "I heard worse, but that one still is nasty, son."

Peck ruffled his headfeathers sheepishly.

"That was before you actually killed Rendain. And I didn't know exactly _who_ were in the group. I mean, no offense, Dad, but Captain Ghalt is even more of a hero than you are."

"How come you didn't know he deserted?" asked Benedict. "I know you were on Tempest, but this went all the way to the Admiralty Board. The UPR Chancellor would have died and it would still have made less ruckus than Ghalt's desertion."

"Well, the news network we managed to hack always said only a bunch of grunt soldiers deserted. You weren't mentioned, Ghalt wasn't and even the clone wasn't" added Wisp. "Which is actually really weird, now that I think about it."

"Anyways" interrupted Peck, getting back on track. "I don't really know what to do. Plus, I'm pretty sure the whole 'slave treatment' absolutely ruined our bodies. I would probably be enlisted at the med bay."

"And I think I would have gone to New Madan, and asked Grandpa to take me in until I found a place in an engineering school" said Wisp.

"Before you ask" interrupted Peck, "yes, I told her she was insane, and that our grandfather would never help us."

"Couldn't have worded that better" said Benedict. "Wisp, sweetie, you know your grandfather is just a complete piece of garbage, right?"

"Yes, I heard what he did to you and Mom. But, really, who do we have left?"

Benedict had to admit that, apart from the Battleborn, his family really hadn't anyone willing to help them. And the Battleborn's help would probably involve a lot of diving deep into enemy lines, which Benedict absolutely refused to put his kids through.

"I thought as much" said a slightly dejected Wisp. "I guess we will have to swallow our pride and beg to him, or go back to Tempest."

"I am not going back on Tempest" said Peck. "I spent fifteen years of my life there watching my family die and working like a feral beast. If you go back, it's without me sis."

"I'm not really too keen in going back there, either" sighed Wisp, "but if Grandpa refuses to help us, Tempest will be our only choice. Lots of the former slaves will start over, and we have good relations with a lot of them."

"I could always try to ask Phoebe or Ghalt if they don't have any favors they could ask of someone to house you for a while, but… you probably guessed I am not really liked by my team."

"Well, given you basically told us you felt suicidal after Mom died, and that you passed your frustration on everyone… We pretty much did yeah."

Peck had managed to say all of this in a completely deadpan, dry tone, which made Benedict chuckle.

"You take too much after me, Peck" Benedict said while jokingly elbowing his son. "Little smart-ass"

"I had a good teacher" countered Peck. "Isn't that right, Mr 'Captain Awesome'?"

Wisp giggled slightly at the nickname, while Benedict merely blushed.

"Hey! I never called myself that."

"No. Mom did. Which is arguably even cuter" laughed Wisp.

"Or humiliating" snickered Peck. "How come you never cringed when she called you that?"

"I loved your mother. Deeply enough to endure the nicknames and say 'yes, my love, that's a wonderful nickname, I love it' when my brain said 'Bleargh'."

"Say, Dad" said Peck, a playful glint in his eyes, "Do you love us, too?"

"What?" asked Benedict. "Of course I love you. Why do you th- Oh. Oh hell no. You are so not doing this, Mister."

"Try me" taunted Peck, "Captain Awesome."

Benedict merely groaned at that, hiding his face in his talons, while his daughter laughed good-naturedly, unable to hold it off.

"I swear, you are the absolute worst, Peck" mumbled Benedict.

"I love you too, Dad" countered his son, gleefully reveling in his father's uneasiness.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked a voice across the door, which had the immediate effect to shut up the three Aviants in the room, before turning around to face whoever the newcomer could be.

In the doorframe stood a small, pudgy-looking pink Aviant, wingless. He, for the voice had definitely been male, wore a standard UPR soldier uniform, as well as a matching bandana on his head. A comically large zipper was placed on said uniform, for reasons unknown. On his back was placed a standard Grenade Launcher, the cannon aimed at the ceiling. Said Aviant was currently crossing his arms, and scowling at Benedict.

The three other Aviants immediately recognized him as Sergeant Ernest Igrin, hero of Madan, demolitions expert, and, all in all, a role-model for almost every Aviant out there.

Benedict also recognized him as his only instructor that never took his previous feats into account, and made sure to put Benedict in his place whenever he needed too, which, in Ernest's mind, had been quite a lot of times. Benedict _also_ recognized him as the only Aviant that had _never_ ceased to make his life a living hell back in boot camp.

"In fact, yes, you are" said Benedict after a moment passed. "Why don't you go away and never talk to me again?"

Ernest only let out a small, sharp, unpleasant laugh at that, before resuming his scowling, and advancing in the room, ignoring Benedict's comment.

"Never thought I would see you there, Benedict" grumbled Ernest. "Not after the little stunt you pulled. Deserting? How in hell did you ever _think_ that was a good idea? Do you even know how much it left New Madan shaken? A damn war hero, deserting in the last days of said war. How do you think that left _us_ , your hierarchy, when dealing with the mess?"

"Forgive me for fleeing the sinking ship, Sarge" snarked Benedict. "Yeah, sure, I could have stayed. And then we would have all hidden behind our bunkers before the Varelsi got us. Seriously, if that's what it means to be a part of your new little government, count me out. I very much prefer the air."

"You disagreeing with our policy doesn't mean you had to throw the entire goddamn republic in turmoil, trooper! In case you forgot, it's our whole people living there. Everything left of the Aviant race!"

"If the Battleborn _hadn't_ deserted, there wouldn't even be an 'everything left', Ernest."

"That's Sergeant Igrin for you, trooper."

"I will call you whatever I want, Ernest. You made it very clear I wasn't an UPR soldier anymore, as far as you were concerned. That I never was, for that matter. Which means you can't force me to do anything."

Ernest closed his eyes, sighing deeply, before looking at Benedict again, not as angry as he was before. Benedict blinked in surprise at this.

"Listen… I admit we all overreacted, when you deserted with Ghalt. High Command was beyond furious. But you're right about one thing: we did nothing, and you did _some_ thing to stop the Varelsi. With Rendain dead, we can't deny your idea was the right one."

Now, _that_ was new. Ernest never had backed down during his legendary arguments with Benedict. The latter merely nodded, a bit tersely, but said nothing.

"But, Benedict… Even though you had our people's interests at heart, you still deserted. Had it been any other soldier, even me, you would have never set talon on this ship. You would have been dragged back to New Madan in chains, and court-martialed."

"Court-martialed? _Me_?" asked an incredulous Benedict. "I saved your a**es! You can't do that!"

"I can't, but High Command can. And in case you forgot, there's a certain Nestor Greywing that became General-in-chief earlier this month."

Benedict instantly blanched at the name. Wisp and Peck also did, slightly less than their father, but still noticeably.

"You are shi****g me, Igrin. You are so shi****g me. There's no way he could have earned the position. Lazarus has way more public support."

"General Lazarus _died_ , Benedict. Lung failure. The medics couldn't do anything. So, Greywing took the position. He said a speech. A very beautiful one about the importance of family, the need to stay together in those dark times, and to not let dissent dictate our actions."

"And you believed him?!" asked an incredulous Benedict.

"Of course not!" said an offended Ernest. "Who do you take me for? Lazarus dying before Greywing takes the spot, a nice speech ready to go while his predecessor's corpse is still hot? I can detect a backstab when I see one, trooper."

Benedict immediately rushed towards Ernest, aiming to close his beak forcefully.

"Are you _insane_?" hissed Benedict, while Ernest was debating himself inside Benedict's grip. "Throwing murder accusations at the General? What the _hell_?"

"Get off me, Benedict!" said Ernest, while pushing the other Aviant forcefully. Once Benedict wasn't trying to snap Ernest's beak shut, the latter resumed talking.

"As I was saying, I am afraid this ain't due to old age Lazarus died. And, of course, who better to take his succession than your father-in-law, Benedict? Someone that was already called ruthless, but became ten times worse when his only daughter, Circinae Greywing, died. Acting as a perfect counterpoint to Lazarus' level-head and diplomacy."

"What are you trying to say, then?" asked Benedict. "That my in-law became the next General because someone killed his competition? We may hate each other, but-"

"But nothing, Benedict! For once in your life, listen to something else than your damn ego!" shouted suddenly Ernest, startling the other three Aviants.

"Don't you see?" continued Ernest after he calmed down, Benedict too shocked by what he just heard to react. "His speech about 'family'? 'Dissent'? You are _not_ safe in New Madan, Benedict. Greywing is going to use the propaganda machine to turn you and your friends into insurgents, even worse than what we think of the Rogues. He is going to train your name into the mud, and leave it there, because he is persuaded _you_ killed his daughter, and he will stop at nothing to get his vengeance. You being a war hero won't matter. You deserted, and opposed the UPR ever since. Politically speaking, you are already dead. He's going to make sure the physical part follows suit."

Silence rang in the room, as Ernest's accusations were slowly processed themselves into the Benedict family's minds.

"… I knew Grandpa was always kind of a jerk" began Peck. "But _killing_ his superior just to get at you? I can't believe it. That's just too grave. If it was true, he would lose _everything_."

"Same here" added Wisp. "Grandpa is mean, yes, but even he wouldn't resort to killing just to get to you, Dad… right?"

"… Igrin. Are you absolutely sure of what you say?"

"Positive. I wouldn't have asked to board this frigate just to get to you if I wasn't absolutely certain. Some friends in the upper echelon told me Nestor wasn't even bothering to hide it."

"Is there a way to get my kids out of danger?"

"As far as I know, he thinks your children all died on Tempest. You would have to take them out of UPR space, and they would be safe. Considering who you work with now, that shouldn't be a problem."

"Expect they almost all hate my ass."

Ernest merely snorted at that.

"Hey!" shouted Wisp. "What are you doing? You can't just push us to the wayside. What about what we _want_ to?"

"Wisp, sweetie" said Benedict, "forgive me, but I would rather die than put you in danger after knowing you spent the last fifteen years as slaves. If you want to go somewhere specific, I can see what I can do, but you are not setting foot on a battlefield again."

"But, Dad-"tried to place Peck, before being interrupted.

"That's _final_ Peck. We already lost everyone else, I am _not_ taking any risks with you two."

The two young Aviants, slightly mortified, nonetheless decided to let the matter drop.

"Anyways, Benedict" continued Ernest, "I may have an incentive for one of your teammate to use their relationships, and protect your kids."

"How comes?" asked Benedict, curious. "Did you ever interact with anyone in the UPR outside of Madan's own forces? Because if not, I really don't know how you could ever convince them."

"Oh, trust me, Private. This will be easy."

"I wish I had your optimism" snarked Benedict. "What's your incentive, then? Because, trust me, Ghalt and the others don't even care about an amnesty."

"Tell me, Benedict, would Captain Ghalt care about a new Battleborn, then?"


	15. Chapter 14 : Kelvin : Existence

**Hello everyone, Darren Xirias here! Shorter chapter for today, seeing as there wasn't that much I wanted the characters to do in this. I won't say anything and just let you discover what happens, though ^^**

 **On a completely unrelated news, however, I am happy to announce you can expect more the next chapters to come more frequently. Why is that, you ask? It's because my school year will soon be over, and I will begin my internship after that, which will leave me at long last with free time. So, yippe.**

 **Enough talk, on with the story!**

 **P.S: You still rock people. Your kind reviews are always awesome to read :)**

 ***o*o*o*o***

 _Kelvin : Existence_

Kelvin was currently walking down the _Nova_ 's hallways, a clear destination in mind. It had been almost a two full days since Miko had left the infirmary, and although, thankfully, no one out of their group had been injured during the raid on Callum's base, that didn't mean Miko wasn't needed by no one else than Aurox.

Namely, Kelvin was missing his friend, simple as that. And so, the ice golem had decided to pay the mushroom healer a visit.

Hence him standing in front of the door. Just as he had been for the last five minutes now.

Kelvin was very patient being. Came with the territory of being very old, actually thousands of souls in one skeleton, and also, all in all, a pretty chill guy. However, he also knew automatic doors aboard starships usually opened in less time than five minutes, and so, Kelvin decided to take the matter into another's nonexistent hands.

"Nova, could I have a moment of your time, please?"

" _Hey, Mr Freeze. How do you do?_ "

"Very fine, thank you" replied the ice golem, not even reacting to Nova's nickname. "And you?"

" _As fine as ever. Still busy insulting Kleese for not making me a robot suit, trying to make Ghalt insane, and rewatching for the billionth time the entire_ Samurai Rath _series. Literally the billionth._ "

"Ah, yes. This LLC retelling of our Jennerit friend's deeds was quite a treat. Does he know such a thing exists, by the way?"

" _Not yet, because Phoebe still bribes me to keep it a secret to him. I'm sure he would throw a tantrum if he knew it was actually the Hemsworth Barony that greenlit the show._ "

"Yes, I can imagine he would be quite peeved to learn such a thing exists" mused Kelvin.

" _That's an understatement if I ever heard one_ " replied Nova in the same tone. " _So, what can I do for you?_ "

"Well, you see, it appears the infirmary's door is broken. I have been standing in front of it for a moment, and it did not open. I remember this door to be automatic, so it should stand to reason that it should open. But it does not."

" _The door isn't broken, pal. It's just been locked._ "

"Locked?" wondered Kelvin. "Who would want the med bay to locked?"

" _Well, duh_ " snarked Nova. " _Guess who's the only moving organism that practically lives in this ship's infirmary. And no, I am not talking about the thing in the toilets._ "

Kelvin wisely decided to ignore that last part.

"Miko locked the door?" asked the ice golem, surprised. "Why would it want to do that?"

" _Beats me. But Mushroom Man is the chief med officer aboard me, so if it wants to lock this door, it can. Ghalt's orders._ "

"Yes, I knew that. But the real question here is _why_?"

" _Beats me_ " replied a cheerful Nova. " _But I get to lock doors and enjoy people's frustrations, and that's good. Helps me getting Ghalt insane._ "

" _Nova_ " resounded the Captain's voice through the ship's loudspeakers, " _I can hear you. The whole ship can hear you actually. You know, with you not putting your voice out of 'Global Broadcast' mode._ "

" _Sorry, Captain_ " said Nova, " _but, quite frankly, I don't give a damn. Have you seen Kleese, by the way? I haven't got to guilt-trip him for not making me a robot suit yet, today._ "

Kelvin heard a long, heavy sigh through the loudspeakers, before Ghalt talked again.

" _I'm not telling you anything._ "

" _What was this message I got into your oh-so-easy-to-hack personal terminal?_ " said Nova without missing a beat. " _The title reads 'Valkyrie of my heart'. My, my, Captain, I didn't know you were such a poet._ "

" _He's in the lab._ "

" _Thanks a bunch!_ "

*o*o*o*o*

Meanwhile, in the mess hall, a very nervous and sweaty Phoebe was looking at a hard-faced Rath.

"Explain" demanded the swordsman. " _Now_."

 _I should have never launched this cartoon program_ bitterly thought the Hemsworth heiress.

*o*o*o*o*

" _What were you saying, again?_ " asked Nova, unaware of how she broke her deal with Phoebe, or not caring.

"The door is locked, and I don't know why Miko wants it so" said an imperial Kelvin, not phased at all by the Batleborn and their insane ship's antics.

" _Ah, yes, that. Doctor Fungus told me it wanted to be alone with the patient. Aurox apparently needs intensive care still, despite him being awake, and his destroyed arm now not destroyed again, but, whatever._ "

"I don't suppose you could try to contact it, say its friend is here to check how is it going, am I correct?" asked Kelvin.

" _Nope_ " replied the ever cheerful Nova. " _Feeling lazy._ "

"Ah, that's a shame" lamented Kelvin. "And here I thought you would have loved to know about a security breach in your network."

The Magnus stayed silent for a moment at that, unsure of what to say.

" _…_ _You're bluffing_ " said she after a moment's thought. " _I have been programmed by the smartest techies back at the LLC, I know my stuff. If there was a breach, I would know._ "

"I assure you, Nova, I know of one that escaped your notice. Open this door for me, and I will tell you."

Nova thought that if Kelvin's face was capable of smiling, he would have a little, satisfied one on his face right now.

" _Alright, I'll bite_ " decided the Magnus. Just as she said so, a small light above the med bay's door turned from red to green, indicating the Magnus was indeed willing to bite. " _The door is open. Now, your turn._ "

"I overheard Kleese earlier, saying he was planning to test something on Oscar Mike."

" _And that concerns me how?_ " asked a dubitative Nova.

"He's planning to test whether our clone friend is stupid enough to run into a photonic field. Without protection."

" _Nice try, Ice Age, but we don't have a photonic field aboard. Not since Orendi is on board, anyways._ "

"Oh, Kleese thought of that, of course. He said he had a plan, namely diverting energy from some of the ship's auxiliary energy cores. Namely, the Entertainment ones."

The silence that answered him for two minutes was proof enough that Nova was quite interested by this piece of information.

" _…_ _My holo-vids… My series… My dramas… My notes on how to make Ghalt insane… And he wants to erase them all?_ "

The light suddenly flickered in the hallway, and Kelvin could have sworn he saw _something_ move inside the ship's walls.

" _I WILL DESTROY HIM! I WILL KILL HIM, THEN RESURECT HIM, THEN KILL HIM AGAIN, THEN DOWNLOAD HIS CONSCIOUSNESS SOMEWHERE WHERE ISIC AND I WILL TORMENT HIM FOR ETERNITY!_ "

As suddenly as it began, the flickering, the rumbling, and the shouting ceased, and Nova's usual cheerful voice spoke again.

" _Thanks for your help, Iceberg! Here, take some Ops Points!_ "

A yellow glow blinded Kelvin for half a second, before disappearing quickly into nothingness, while Nova was still muttering to herself.

" _Now, where did I place the depressurization command, again…_ "

Deciding he had done enough damage for the day, Kelvin shrugged, and entered the med bay quietly.

Once through the door, he was greeted by the usual environment of the Battleborn's infirmary, still as pristine and well-organized as ever. What was unusual, however, was the giant rock monster laying on the center operation table, his members strapped to said table by energy restraints. Miko, Kelvin's reason to come down in the first place, was hard at work on Aurox's case, fusion cutter in hand.

Yeah, fusion cutter. Aurox was made of stone, after all.

The mushroom-man raised its eye towards Kelvin, apparently looking surprised.

"You should not be here. Get out" it said evenly. This would have been insulting had it been anyone else saying that, but Miko being Miko, it was just it being straight and to the point.

"I just wanted to check on you" said Kelvin, not bothering to indulge Miko's request. "You've been locked up the entire day. I know Aurox's case was severe, but it appears he is fine for the time being. Surely, you can think about taking a break, right?"

"Our work isn't complete" replied Miko quickly. "We must heal. We must nurture. We must preserve."

Aurox merely snorted at that, clearly amused by that. Miko glared at him, before taking the fusion cutter just slightly lower than necessary. Aurox's visible wince was satisfactory to Miko, and it resumed its work.

"Next time you will feel bemused by our craft, we will go even lower" said Miko in an eerily even tone. Aurox got the message, and said nothing else.

"Miko. You didn't answer the question, my friend" reminded Kelvin.

The mushroom doctor made a sound that, had it been anyone else could have passed for a sigh of irritation. However, this was Miko we were talking about, and it never show even the slightest trace of annoyance. What Miko let out was a sigh of exhaust. Kelvin immediately noticed this.

"Miko, when was the last time you performed photosynthesis?"

"It is of no matter" replied Miko. "Once our work is done, then we may rest. Until then, we must not."

"Miko, I am willing to bet you falling unconscious would delay Aurox's recuperation a lot more than a break."

"We know our limits, Kelvin" replied Miko, a hint of coldness in its voice. "We will heal Aurox in the briefest delays, so that he may go back on the field the soonest possible."

Kelvin sighed, shaking his skull.

"Aurox" asked the ice golem, "how do you feel?"

"Been better" grumbled the guayota. "Got my arm back. But it hurts. I'll manage, though."

"Our apologies" interrupted Miko. "The Mineral Reconstructor is a very potent tool, but it is also excruciatingly painful. Alas, nothing else could have given your arm back."

Aurox grubled again for good measure, but mumbled a 'it's fine', before falling silent. The rock monster's mood was infamous amongst the Battleborn, but even he knew not to mess with Miko. The doctor functioned on another level entirely, and was here not out of any kind of obligation, but because it wanted to be here, simple as that. To anger Miko was putting the only healer on the ship against you, and it had no reason to go soft on you. Well, former only healer.

"You see?" resumed Kelvin. "You can take a break. To _feed yourself_ , at the very least! Do you really believe you will be able to heal him efficiently in your state?"

"Kelvin, we appreciate the concern" cut Miko, sharply, "but you _will_ let us work unbothered. We do not know how you even managed to enter this room, but we ask you to leave, and to leave _now_."

As it said all of this, the mushroom man stayed even in its tone, as usual, but Kelvin, having a stronger bond than most people with it, noticed Miko was growing angry. Never a good sign.

"Very well" relented Kelvin. "However, can you at the least promise you'll take a break the moment Aurox is back on his feet? Or whatever you use to walk around" said he to Aurox in the last part.

"Telekinesis" replied the guyaota, in a tone that indicated this had been far from the first time he had been asked this question.

Miko sighed again, before looking at Kelvin with its lone, unblinking eye.

"Very well. We promise to cease work for a time once we are done with Aurox."

"Excellent!" beamed Kelvin, happy that his friend finally saw reason. "Maybe you'll be able to meet with the two new guys, even. We finally managed to have another healer onboard, and I think you'll like her."

"We shall see" replied Miko, going back to absolutely neutral tone and body language, which slightly annoyed Kelvin. "We will have to ask you to leave, now. We are still busy, after all."

"Alright, then. I'll be on my way" replied Kelvin. "I do hope you're still up for our game of blackjack with Phoebe, though. She's been waiting for it for a month."

"Of course we'll be here. The opportunity to watch Phoebe's attempts at a poker face are one of the last truly funny things left in the universe."

Kelvin took a moment before realizing Miko had, in fact, told a joke.

"Heh" laughed he, "pretty funny. Alright, then. See you later, my friend!"

Miko only nodded, and Kelvin was on his way back to wherever he wanted to go next, not that he had any idea about that. He was going to take it as it went, he guessed.

Or that would have been his plan if he didn't hear a muted sound from behind him. A loud 'thud', followed by a series of little 'clangs', which eerily sounded like the sound Miko's tools would make if they hit the ground in rapid succession.

Kelvin turned around himself so fast, he thought he would have dislocated his shoulder, if he had one. And what he saw confirmed his worst fears.

Miko was lying face first on the ground. Its tools were scattered around, as it knocked into the operation table in its fall.

And Kelvin noticed it wasn't moving. At all.


End file.
